Call for Submissions

Aug/Sep 2025

Vol 10, Issue No. 4

Guest Editor: MJ DeCoteau, founder of Rethink Breast Cancer

LIVING WELL

What does living well after a breast cancer diagnosis look like for you? Is it finding joy in the small, everyday moments? Rebuilding confidence in your body and yourself? Cultivating deeper relationships, new passions, or a sense of purpose? Maybe it's about realizing quality of life matters, too.

Whether you currently have no evidence of disease or are learning to live with MBC, we invite you to share your story of transformation toward living well despite cancer. What does it look like in practice? Maybe it's a shift in mindset, an unexpected source of happiness, or a new way of being in the world. Maybe it's the hard-earned wisdom that living well doesn’t mean being cured, but rather finding ways to thrive in the midst of uncertainty.

Let us walk a day in your shoes. Show us how you are living proof of a person learning to live well after diagnosis. Welcome back to our guest editor, MJ DeCoteau, the founder of Rethink Breast Cancer, for this brand-new theme.

We accept:

  • Essays: 650-1200 words

  • Poems: 50 line maximum

  • Artwork: high-resolution along with a written Artist Statement

Submission Deadline: June 25, 2025


Ready to submit your story? Fill out the submission form at the bottom of the Submission page.


Need inspiration to write your story in the Wildfire Journal way? We’ve got you. Scroll down for resources.

🎧Listen to past episodes of The Burn related to the LIVING WELL theme.

✏️Use writing prompts:

Come to our interactive expressive writing workshop on Apr 22, 2025 for “living well” inspired writing prompts to get the wheels turning. Led by April Stearns, you’ll be guided through a series of prompts to find your stories and given the opportunity to share your writing aloud (always optional).

More info & RSVP for the Zoom link here.

Notebook and pen

Remember, we are looking for cancer-related stories, so no matter where your story begins, don’t forget to include how your experience of cancer has affected you, and the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Read more writing tips here.

📖 Read past issues of Wildfire Journal related to the Living Well theme.

  • New Normal Cover

    New Normal

    Dec 2023/Jan 2024

  • Wildfire Journal Travel & Adventure Cover

    Travel & Adventure

    Aug/Sep 2023

  • Money Cover

    Money & Cancer

    Aug/Sep 2022

  • Survivorship Cover

    Survivorship

    Oct/Nov 2021