Cutthroat, A Journal of the Arts has long been a home for writing that engages the political and personal without flinching. For its 2026 issue, the journal turns its attention to the present moment of upheaval—climate change, foreign wars, assaults on civil liberties, genocide, and the domestic and foreign policies of the current administration—and asks writers to consider where we go from here. The call is not for reportage or polemic, but for fiction that grapples with the lived experience of coping, resisting, and persisting amid vast change. The journal seeks unpublished and unposted short fiction of up to 5,000 words. While the editors state they are open to all styles, they note a preference for nonfiction with an edge—a signal that they value work that is urgent, unflinching, and formally alert. The reading fee is modest, and the journal asks for a short bio note. Decisions are typically made within two to six months, and the editors emphasize that all work is read and considered carefully. This is an opportunity for writers whose fiction engages with the political without sacrificing craft, who can render the personal and the global as inseparable. The issue's title, 'Standing Up,' suggests a curatorial vision that favors work of moral seriousness and aesthetic risk—fiction that does not look away.