For years, Open Arts Forum has published poetry, fiction, essays, visual art, photography, music, readings, and other creative work on its front page. Until now, most of that work has lived primarily as part of the site archive.

That is about to change.

Soon, OAF will begin publishing quarterly and annual collections of work that has appeared on the front page.

Each quarterly will gather eligible work from a three-month period, organized by contributor. Annual editions will bring together the year’s work in a larger collection. Covers will feature artwork or photography included in the volume itself, and contributor biographies will be included as well.

We also plan to reach back into the OAF archive and produce retrospective collections from earlier years. That will give older work a new life and create a more permanent record of the writers and artists who have contributed to OAF over time.

These collections will be available to Open Arts Forum members.

For current members, that is another reason to keep submitting. Work selected for the OAF front page may also be considered for inclusion in future quarterly and annual collections.

For writers and artists who are not yet members, this is also an invitation. If you would like your poetry, fiction, essays, art, photography, music, or other creative work to be considered for publication on OAF—and potentially for inclusion in future collections—join the community and submit your work.

The first priority is to establish the quarterly and annual series. Later, we may explore other kinds of collections as well.

Open Arts Forum has always been built around the work its members bring to it. These publications are a way of preserving more of that work, presenting it in a new form, and giving the creative life of the community a record that can be read and revisited for years to come.