New Lit on the Block :: Fleeting Daze Magazine

Most of us are likely at an age when we can recall how quickly carefree younger days seem to have slipped through our fingers as we entered irrevocably into adulthood. Fortunately, for today’s youth, there is Fleeting Daze Magazine, a youth-run literary online quarterly publishing all forms of literary arts and writing from contributors ages 13-24. New issues are available every 2-3 months in open access online forms.

Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Caroline Zhang explains the intentionality behind the name: “When creating the name, we wanted our magazine to highlight the coming-of-age process and the works we published to be unique to a new generation of creators and thinkers. We recognized that as a youth-run magazine, our knowledge and understanding growing up today was an advantage and a perspective that often is not found elsewhere in today’s media. ‘Fleeting Daze’ had a double meaning – first, symbolizing the glowing haze/dreamlike nature of childhood, having fun, believing in the possibilities of the world. On the other hand, ‘Fleeting Daze’ can also be read as ‘Fleeting Days,’ symbolizing how the best moments of our youthful childhoods can go by in the blink of an eye, and how every second must be grasped onto and enjoyed for as long as possible.”

New Generation Perspective

This new-generation perspective was a motivating force in the inception of Fleeting Daze, as Zhang shares, “We wanted to start a literary magazine because we recognized the unique voice we have as teenagers and young adults to make an impact in literature as it is today. Our generation has faced the brunt of many social and worldly phenomena, causing many of us to develop extremely insightful and mature perspectives at a young age – perspectives that current popular literature does not have. We wanted our magazine to be a centerpiece for these perspectives to be amplified, especially with our thematic focus on childhood, coming of age, lessons learned over time, and more.”

Being youth-run does not equate to any lack of expertise, as the full staff of twenty (and growing) editors, managers, and readers can attest. Leading the staff are the two EICs: Rosie Hong, a writer from Houston, Texas, whose work earned won the 2024 YoungArts Award with Distinction in Short Story and the 2023 Scholastic Gold Medalist, her work is published or forthcoming in Rust & Moth, Vagabond City Lit, Bowseat, and others; and Caroline Zhang, a writer from St. Paul, Minnesota, who has been an American Voices Nominee and three-time Scholastic Gold Medalist. She has also been recognized by the New York Times and the Center for Fiction. Her work is published or forthcoming in the Peauxdunque Review, Riggwelter Review, Crashtest, and others.

A Tight Turnaround for Submissions

 For writers looking to submit their works, Zhang explains the process. “Submissions are mainly reviewed by the Editors-In-Chief, Caroline and Rosie. Individuals can indicate whether they would like feedback when submitting, and this feedback is usually given by one of our editors. When we first founded Fleeting Daze, we recognized the frustration that comes with long response times and the importance of providing efficient responses to submissions, so we implemented a 24-hour response time for all submissions. We maintained that response time for two issues, but as the volume of submissions increases, we may sometimes fall behind a little. However, we continue to uphold our mission of providing responses as efficiently as we can.”

Zhang offers this additional advice to contributors, “This is very general, but be sure you’re reading the guidelines and formatting requirements of any magazine you submit to. Presentation matters more than you think, especially when editors are given a lot of submissions at once – it makes it easier for us to read and enjoy your work. Also, there’s so much diversity in literary magazines nowadays, you never know where you might get accepted or published, and you never know which writing styles certain publications may be drawn to, so don’t take rejection as a measure of your writing. Instead, think of it as a way to analyze what styles that certain publication prefers, and pinpoint your own distinctive style in the process.” [NewPages wholeheartedly agrees!]

The Readers’ Experience

For readers coming to visit Fleeting Daze, Zhang says, “Expect to find an incredible collection of work about uniquely youthful experiences of growing up and all the trials and tribulations that come with it. Every work we publish is extremely reflective and self-aware, not only in its content, but also in its structure. We are proud to publish work that highlights the sometimes-hidden intricacies of coming of age.”

Some early contributors include Aarna Tyagi, Isabel Gan, Sabine Cladis, Ava Burkins, Daisy Bignell, Jessie Leitzel, Maggie Hoppel, Finch Greene, Jedidiah Vinzon, Rapahaela Pavlakos, Abdul Awal, Irinia Tall Novikova, Sun Clark, Alistair Gaunt, Ella Wisniewski, Sarp Sozdinler, Toluwaleyi Meadows, Jaiden Geolingo – among many others.

Welcoming & Supportive Community

Reflecting on the start-up process, Zhang offers this insight: “The greatest lesson we’ve learned is that above all, the teen writing community and literary magazine community is just so incredibly supportive, intuitive, and open to lifting each other up as young creators. It’s such an amazing space for anyone who is even remotely interested in writing, since each organization provides unique opportunities for new and fledging writers to be published, gain feedback, and learn about all the places their work can take them. We didn’t realize that our magazine had been this for some of our contributors as well – but seeing how excited people get to have their work featured, or receive feedback, or anything of the sort, has been so fulfilling and incredible. It makes me wish I had known about this community when I first started writing. We’re so glad we’ve been able to become a part of this amazing space.”

A Future of More

Looking to the future of Fleeting Daze, Zhang says, “Our most recent project has been our anthology, Home, Rewritten, which features a collection of art and writing from Asian American & Pacific Islander teen creators. This project has been a long time in the making, and we are so proud to be able to highlight AAPI voices and share with the world how we have redefined our homes and families through our experiences growing up. This anthology is available in print and online.

“Issue 3 is due out at the end of July. Check for our submission deadlines because we hope to continue publishing as much work as possible and being an open space for creators of any background or perspective.”