Heidi Marjamäki

Obsessed with these micros by @jimmy-kindree.bsky.social 💕

There's only ONE (1) WEEK LEFT to apply to be a reader for OKD! Now's your chance to be part of a kind and committed indie lit mag team. Don't let Sad Jack 🫏 continue being sad! Learn more and apply by next Saturday, Jan. 31st at forms.gle/kAQyzPW3oR8Y....

Hey everyone! We've extended our preorder offer! You can now enter the giveaway until Fri 13th March 😱! Post your order confirmation or email it to encounterswithcryptids@gmail.com for a chance to win 1 of 5 paperbacks!

Fifteen monstrous tales. Out Friday 13th March! 👻 www.amazon.com/dp/B0G4BLN1GR

OKD Fiction Editor Heidi Marjamäki will now take on the role of Managing Editor!

Former OKD Social Media Manager Christine Salek will take on the role of Newsletter Editor.

Lead Reader Gina Thayer will now be our Associate Fiction Editor!

Last (but not least), the social media team: Dani Kuntz is the new Social Media Manager, and Cassey Abella is the new Social Media Associate who is responsible for all our amazing graphics!

A new year always brings change, and we wanted to share OKD’s recent masthead changes with you.

In case you missed our January newsletter (buff.ly/oiRYEE5), we have three team members moving into new roles and two new additions to the team! The images (and alt text) below outline all four changes.

Huge CONGRATS to 2025 OKD contributor Amber Burke for making it into the Best Microfiction 2026 anthology with her piece "Dark Circles"! This year’s winners were picked by final judge Diane Seuss @dseuss.bsky.social. See the full list of winners at www.bestmicrofiction.com. 🫏

The donkey wears a monocle in this graphic, layered over a black and white cartoonish image of an open book, with eyeglasses and a partially eaten pastry sitting next to it.

Want to read for an established, highly-rated, BOLD and WEIRD literary magazine? Yes, we're talking about Okay Donkey! The donkey, known as Sad Jack, would transform into monocle-wearing "Happy" Jack if you joined us! Learn more and apply by Jan. 31st at forms.gle/kAQyzPW3oR8Y.... 🫏

Each editor has their photo in the form of a stamp on the left side of the image. The remainder of the image shows the donkey in a white astronaut helmet riding a purple and yellow UFO. His speech bubble says: "Get submission tips, learn about opportunities at OKD, and more!" The background is lilac with clouds and sparkles.

Happy New Year from OKD! 🎊

Our first newsletter of the year is… a Q&A with our editors! If you’ve ever wondered about the importance of cover letters or what factors contribute to a decision on your submission, look no further.

Read on for more from OKD: okaydonkeymag.beehiiv.com/p/you-asked-...

The donkey's backside and legs have been overlaid with a pink mermaid tail as he jumps out of the waves with water droplets spraying out. A speech bubble is above the donkey's head conveying our rank on the FISH List.

Well, well, well... the donkey has sprouted a tail fin and jumped right into spot #8 on Charlie Fish's 2026 FISH List of lively independent literary magazines. We're so excited that we might just perform some water tricks alongside the donkey! See the full list at buff.ly/G8FaEQK.

We are proud to be lucky number 7 in the Bold and Weird category of Chill Subs Best Lit Mags of 2025! The donkey is always happy to receive compliments (but only when we pass on the message to him, since he really can't read, despite his protests). Check out all the winners here: buff.ly/Xw4HXk6

A letter partway out a red envelope reads "Thank you OKD Staff Readers," stamped with the donkey. There are leaves with red berries hanging from the top left corner over the letter.

The holidays are upon us, and we continue to be enraptured by gratitude for this weird and wonderful life. Here at OKD, we're especially grateful for our many staff readers who enable us to treat every submitted piece with care. Learn more about our readers at okaydonkeymag.com/masthead/.

Presenting OKD’s Best Microfiction nominees! Read the nominated pieces in the thread below.

Congratulations to OKD’s 2026 Best Small Fictions nominees! Read the nominated pieces in the thread below.

Meet OKD’s Pushcart Prize nominees! Read the nominated pieces in the thread below.

Pre-order offer! If you pre-order our new antho, ENCOUNTERS, you'll be in with a chance of winning one of five paperback copies on release day. Either post your order confirmation or email it to encounterswithcryptids@gmail.com.

Fifteen monstrous stories. Out 02/14/26 www.amazon.com/dp/B0G4BLN1GR.

New little piece out today 🧖‍♀️

👹 @slimyswampghost.bsky.social and I are stoked to announce ENCOUNTERS with cryptids is now available to preorder! www.amazon.com/dp/B0G4BLN1GR

Stories by @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social, @vilefable.bsky.social,
@rlmeza.bsky.social, @notmargopecha.bsky.social, @jennystrath.bsky.social and many more...

I'm SO EXCITED to have a story in this anthology! Big big thanks to @andrewcull.bsky.social and @slimyswampghost.bsky.social for picking my story featuring a creature you might encounter in the Finnish woods...

A graphic with a duotone, blurred pink/blue laptop in the background. Text reads, We're the Okay Donkey editors, ask us anything. Asterisk at the end of "ask me anything" points to, about OKD, by November 30. There are photos of the three editors, Carolene Kurien, Heidi Marjamäki, and Steve Chang.

Have you ever wondered how...
• a literary magazine is run?
• decisions are made on submissions?
• to improve your chances of getting published by an established literary magazine?

Ask our editors (almost) anything by 11/30: forms.gle/NiBR9KQG2PHZ...

Answers coming in our January newsletter! 🫏

Love this haunting piece so much.

For fans of Junji Ito, Charles Burns, and doubling down.

Spirals by Natalie Wallington I am nine when I see the lights in the sky. I crow to Mom from the back seat that there’s a triangle over the field, moving away from us. She says she needs to keep her eyes on the road, but …

"I start drawing the spiral on the back of my hand in crusty ballpoint pen, refreshing it whenever it fades, so when the aliens come back they'll know right away who to trust."

"Spirals" by @narwhallington.bsky.social, new flash fiction out today at OKD:

November Plans! Q&As w/Residency Directors & Meredith Talusan, $15 membership, monthlong Write-More challenge, and more!

Our plans for November are here!

🔥$15 Basic memberships!
🔥Chats with residency directors & @1demerith.bsky.social!
🔥A monthlong Write-More challenge led by @okaydonkeymag.com associate fiction editor @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social!

And more👇
litmatchcollective.beehiiv.com/p/november-p...

"Which House by Mariah Gese" written at the top in red on a background of translucent pencil lines. Overtop is a comic panel from the comic depicting four houses and trees all meeting in the center. Below is the full Rumpus logo in red.

"I think it's the house trying to get in. It's testing out the walls, trying to dream enough space to crawl in."

From "Which House," a new original comic by Mariah Gese.

➡️ buff.ly/6DlXGu2

13.1 Septillion Pounds by Emily Rinkema To help her sleep, we give the baby a basketball, a full-size regulation ball that my husband, CT, puts in her crib one night. He writes her name on it with a black Sharpie, bold letters like they …

I have a new story in @okaydonkeymag.com and I am so excited about it! I hope you like it as much as I do! okaydonkeymag.com/2025/09/19/1...

There is always a moment, writing in a second language, that we think we’re not ready, that we’re not ‘good enough’, as @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social explains in this last episode of Season 4. In the end, we realise there is no such thing as ‘good enough.’Language is always evolving, and so are we.

Had the pleasure to join the wonderful @norami.bsky.social on Chosen Tongue podcast. We had a great chat about writing in a second (or third!) language and all the feels that come with it.

New from me today. This one is close to my heart - a short fiction built around some artists & works that have lingered with me. Not straight ekphrasis but an attempt to write about some of the ways that art can work on us

My deep thanks to Heidi & Steve at OKD for all their care with this one ❤️

Two Stories by Linda Drach TRAVEL & LEISURE I’d see them in the cardiology waiting room. Not every time, but often. The man, shuffling behind an aluminum walker, his right foot dragging; the woman, slowing her gait to ke…

"It's time to see Joel, but Pat says he can't – he doesn’t want to see him this way, which is dead."

"Travel & Leisure" and "The Farm" by Linda Drach, new flash fiction out today at OKD. 📝

A Reading List for the End of the World by Julia Rose Greider Robin and I are coping well with the end of the world, by which I mean we usually wake up by eleven and agree that eleven is not bad at all. We start our day with reading: Robin prefers Plato, whil…

"Robin insists that we discuss our respective literatures to keep our minds agile. They say we'll need our problem-solving abilities when things get worse."

"A Reading List for the End of the World" by Julia Rose Greider, new flash fiction out today at OKD. 📝

Everyone who applied to be a Fiction Reader has been emailed with a decision! Check your spam folder if you don't see that in your inbox.

Thanks again for applying 🫶

Our Associate Fiction Editor has a piece out today in @ergot.bsky.social 👀

(cc: @heidimarjamaki.bsky.social)