Breadcrumb Scabs
A Poetry Magazine About the Human Condition
Welcome to Our Literary Community
Breadcrumb Scabs was a monthly poetry magazine dedicated to the raw, unfiltered exploration of human experience. It published confessional poetry that dared to be unflattering, pessimistic, and brutally honest: work in which poets confronted the beautiful messiness of being human.
Founded on the belief that authentic poetry must sometimes make us uncomfortable, we specialize in work that combines sentimentality with grittiness, love with loss, and hope with despair. Our pages feature contemporary voices that refuse to look away from difficult truths.
Our Mission
The magazine was committed to amplifying underrepresented voices in contemporary poetry. It particularly championed queer poets and women writers while welcoming work from poets internationally who shared its vision of unflinching literary honesty.
Each monthly issue remains available as a free digital download; the magazine also offered affordable print editions. Its editors believed great poetry should reach beyond academia and traditional publishing gatekeepers.
What the Magazine Published
Breadcrumb Scabs seeks poetry that explores:
- Guilt - The weight of conscience and moral complexity
- Grit - The texture of struggle and survival
- Sex - Desire in all its complicated forms
- Scabs - The evidence of wounds healing and reopening
The magazine favored confessional poetry that revealed rather than concealed, chose authenticity over prettiness, and trusted readers to handle difficult emotional terrain. Its aesthetic embraced the nauseous alongside the beautiful, recognizing that both are essential to genuine human experience.
Recent Issues
Browse our archives to explore past issues featuring work from emerging and established poets. Each issue presents a carefully curated selection of contemporary verse that challenges, provokes, and moves.
Join Our Community
Whether you're a reader hungry for authentic voices or simply curious about contemporary confessional poetry, explore the magazine's pages. The submission guidelines document its editorial approach, while past issues present poetry that refuses to flinch.
Recommended for mature readers. Breadcrumb Scabs publishes adult-oriented poetry that may contain explicit language and themes.