Strange Pilgrims
Strange Pilgrims, Ailsa Ross, aliyah, Shannan Mann, Karan Kapoor, Dawn Macdonald, Jefferson Navicky, Kevin Sandefur, norka keller, The Obsidian, Margaret Jameson, Ata Zargarof, Lily KovacsReal, surreal, & brutally beautiful writing ✦ Free submissions ✦ Pays $50-$200 ✦ Independent, ad-free, & reader-supported
| Platform |  | Pricing | Freemium | Publishes | Twice weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 71 | Founded | a year ago | Last Issue | 10 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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strangepilgrims.comLatest Issues
Here It Is by Kristina Ten
hello fellow strange pilgrims,
I want to point you towards the audio recording of today’s piece. I mean, yes, it’s amazing hearing author’s in their own words, but I also want you to note that our recordings will now live at the top of...
Stop resorting to AI! Here are 5 things you can do instead
Hello fellow strange pilgrims,
I know there are many anti-AI pieces out there, so I want to start this post off a little perhaps controversially. This is not exactly one of those kinds of anti-AI diatribes. I’m not sitting in your rooms o...
Free Writing Challenge: Micro of the Month
The Last Judgment by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1482)
Hello fellow strange pilgrims,
It’s that time of the month again when we send out our theme for our free micro writing challenge!
Remember, the rules are simple: the piece must be 300 wor...
Transcription by Norka Keller
Hello fellow strange pilgrims, I’m delighted to share this month’s Micro of the Month writing challenge winner below. The theme was “Marriage” and we ended up getting 896 submissions! I think this is our highest (or second-highest) yet for...
Somniphobia by Margaret Jameson
Hello fellow strange pilgrims, thank you for taking some time out of your busy lives for loving literature, and not just literature of the past that has survived the decades and centuries, but literature being created and written today, lit...
Audience Metrics
Subscribers, engagement, traffic and sponsorship for Strange Pilgrims.
| Subscribers | Engagement | 82 | Monthly Web Visits | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accepts Sponsors | Estimated Cost per Ad | ||||
SEO Reach
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| Ranked Keywords | 600 | Monthly Search Traffic | Top Keywords |
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
Real, surreal, & brutally beautiful writing \ud83d\udc26⬛ Fiction & Nonfiction \ud83d\udc26⬛ Free submissions \ud83d\udc26⬛ Pays $200/long-form & $50/flash \ud83d\udc26⬛
Author of the "earthly and otherworldly" 2026 novel HOVEL ✵ Strange Light/Penguin Random House. Also writing about history and ascetics and art and anchoresses in The Guardian, BBC History, Kismet etc.
telling strange and surreal stories. none of us are free until all of us are free. \ud83e\udda2⚰️\ud83e\ude9e\ud83d\udeaa
no.
“They locked up a man who wanted to rule the world — the fools, they locked up the wrong man.”
Dawn Macdonald lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, where she grew up without electricity or running water. She also reviews books at https://reviewsofbooksigotforfreeorcheap.substack.com/
Jefferson Navicky is a poet and archivist. His Kafka love came from getting lost in SoHo at 22 years old, wandering into a used bookstore, and discovering "Before the Law" in a used copy of Tales of Wisdom: One Hundred Modern Parables.
To learn more about Kevin and his published stories visit BlueSky: @kevinsandefur.bsky.social or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevinSandefur.Author
confabulated for privacy; usually polish
Writer, editor, timelapse observer, Shirley Jackson Award finalist, NYU MFA 2025
Living on coffee and flowers
literary mortician in residence @ Curtis Brown Heritage
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