HerStry's Winter 2027 issue calls for creative nonfiction that interrogates the theme 'Light'—not as a seasonal cliché but as a site of inquiry. The editors frame the theme with deliberate range: hearths and firesides, survival and joy, the places where light reaches and where it does not. This is an invitation to consider illumination in its most literal and metaphorical registers, from the domestic to the existential. The magazine's stated interest in 'a good story' above all signals that narrative craft, not thematic piety, will determine the issue's contents. The submission process is shaped by two firm protocols. First, the magazine reads blind: manuscripts must be free of identifying information, and any work containing such information will be discarded without being read. Second, cover letters are neither required nor read. These policies place the entire burden of communication on the essay itself—its voice, structure, and emotional precision. The word limit of 5,000 words accommodates both compact lyric essays and longer narrative arcs, but the absence of a cover letter means the opening pages must establish authority immediately. A $3 fee applies to submissions. HerStry does not specify payment or prize information in the provided materials, so contributors should submit with the understanding that the primary return is publication in the Winter 2027 issue. The editors' language—'bring us your stories'—suggests a curatorial stance that values urgency and authenticity over polish alone. This is a call for work that earns its light.