L.A. Hawbaker
MASKS Literary magazine
“The publishing industry often pays emerging creatives with "exposure" instead of actual pay, thereby denigrating the value of creative work across the board. MASKS seeks to course-correct this pay inequity by not only paying all contributors—but by serving as a gateway publication for underrepresented voices and providing a beautiful space that emerging artists, poets, and writers can be proud to put in their portfolios.”
- L.A. Hawbaker
MASKS is a print and online literary publication that amplifies the voices of emerging and underrepresented poets, writers, and visual artists. In an industry that takes advantage of new creatives by “buying” their work with exposure instead of monetary pay, we vow to increase pay equity: our submissions are free and we compensate all contributors. We’ve also pledged to increase representation beyond the surface level. The majority of our contributors and editorial staff identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, or multilingual.
Laura Hawbaker is a writer from Chicago by way of New Orleans, Hawaii, Poland, and Prague. She holds a master's in linguistics from UIC and is an MFA candidate in creative writing at Columbia. Laura studied fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop and as the Franz Kafka Fellow at the Prague School of Creative Communication. In 2021, she won the Tusculum Review Fiction Award. Her other publication credits include PopMatters, Bright Wall/Dark Room, Modern Luxury Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and Newcity Magazine.
Contact Info:
Website: www.maskslitmag.com
Twitter: maskslitmag
Instagram: maskslitmag