Where to Submit Roundup: July 11, 2025

Happy Friday!
Can you believe the month is already halfway over next week? Time really flies! With so much to do and so little time, I hope you’re finding moments to enjoy nature this summer with the people you love.

Don’t forget the essentials: sunscreen, bug spray, and plenty of water. Not a fan of plain water? Try flavored hydration drops—they’re especially helpful for those stubborn folks who resist staying hydrated. Cucumbers are also a great, refreshing option!

But I digress…

If you’re not able to get away just yet, NewPages is here to keep your creativity flowing. We’ve got fun writing and art prompts and submission opportunities to help you stay on track with your writing goals until you can shift to vacation mode.

🧠Inspiration Prompt: Face Pareidolia

Sounds intense, right? Face Pareidolia—is it a condition? A disease? A new form of body dysmorphia? Actually, it’s nothing scary at all.

Face pareidolia is the brain’s quirky tendency to see faces in everyday objects. Ever looked up at a cloud and seen not just a bunny or a dragon, but the face of a wise old wizard? Or maybe your pet rock “Bob” reminded you of Bob Ross, thanks to its spongey-looking “afro” and facial features?

Let your imagination run wild—what faces do you see in the world around you?

✍️ Writing Prompts

• Write a story about a character who cannot recognize other humans, but constantly sees people in the strangest of things—shower heads, faucets, warped glass, daisies, dogwood trees. How does this affect their relationships, their sense of reality, or their creativity?
• Write a poem about making a new friend—only to reveal, in a twist, that the friend is actually a plant, a steering wheel, or something completely unexpected.
• Write an essay or creative nonfiction piece about how this phenomenon has affected you—or hasn’t. Maybe your brain works differently and you never see faces in objects. What does that say about perception, imagination, or even neurodiversity?

🎨 Art Prompts

Artists have long drawn inspiration from nature and the subconscious. Leonardo da Vinci famously saw entire scenes and characters in stains on walls and natural textures. You can do the same.

• Draw or paint an abstract landscape or object, subtly embedding facial features into the composition—eyes in tree knots, a mouth in a mountain ridge, a nose in a shadow.
• Create a sculpture or collage that only reveals a face when viewed from a certain angle or distance.
• Explore digital art or photography by capturing or editing images that suggest hidden faces in everyday scenes.

🖼️ Writing Meets Art: Gallery Explorations

Let’s take this prompt even further—beyond the page or sketchbook and into the gallery.

Artists throughout history have embedded faces—both intentionally and subconsciously—into their work. From the surreal illusions of Salvador Dalí to the natural inspirations of Leonardo da Vinci, the human tendency to find faces in patterns, textures, and forms has long influenced visual art.

Your challenge: Combine writing and visual exploration.

• Visit an art gallery or museum (in person or virtually). Look closely at the artwork. Do you see any hidden or unintended faces in the brushstrokes, shadows, or textures?
  → Write a reflection, poem, or story inspired by one of these “found faces.” Who is this face? What is its story? Why is it hiding?
• Explore art history: Research an artist known for pareidolia or surrealism.
  → Write a creative nonfiction piece or hybrid essay that blends your research with your own experiences of seeing faces in objects.
• Create your own artwork—a drawing, painting, collage, or sculpture—that subtly includes a face or multiple faces.
  → Then, write a companion piece: a poem, a character sketch, or a short story that brings the hidden face(s) to life.
• Flip the perspective: Write from the point of view of the face in the object. What does it see? How does it feel being trapped in a tree knot, a cracked sidewalk, or a swirl of paint?

Let the world around you become your canvas—and see what faces emerge.

And after you let your imagination and brain run wild, scroll down to find venues to share your work!

Where to Submit Roundup: October 17, 2025

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Where to Submit Roundup: October 10, 2025

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Where to Submit Roundup: October 3, 2025

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Where to Submit Roundup: September 26, 2025

Happy Friday!This has been a week that felt both inexplicably long and, somehow, quite short — a perfect reflection of September itself. The month stretched and compressed in strange ways, and now here we are at its end, with a wave of opportunities and deadlines coming next week. But before diving into submissions, take a […]