About Five South

Like a long, deep scar, the 5-Freeway cuts along the entire West Coast, from Vancouver to Mexico. It’s over 2000 miles long. It’s as much a Los Angeles icon as it is a symbol of clutter, traffic, industry, outlet malls, mountains, hills, cow fields, scenic views, long stretches of nothing, and vast plains of green.

Five South is an online, biannual, literary journal where storytelling counts. Whether it’s in prose or poem form, we want to get to the meat of it. We like stories about people, places, memories, things that make us feel connected. We want heroes and fighters, day drinkers, and poets. We want grit, rock ’n’ roll, hope, despair, and honesty. People who stand up for what they believe in is our jam. Real people make mistakes. We want all the strong voices that have something to say, but leave your soap box at home. We appreciate nuance. Like the 5 Freeway, we want scenery that varies from strip malls to green pastures.

Five South does not discriminate and we’re glad to publish emerging and established authors of all colors, orientations, affiliations, and designations from all over the world. See our submission guidelines for all the dos and don'ts.

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