Full Bleed exists to cultivate that fertile ground where the visual and literary arts intersect. Published annually in print and online by the Maryland Institute College of Art, our journal strives to inspire, critique, and inform the pursuits of contemporary artists and writers. We do so with the belief that aesthetic experience—those intuitive stirrings, intimacies, and insights engendered by concentrated encounters with works of art and literature—is favorable to the cause of human dignity, within individual lives and within our politics.

Because our world is syncretic, characterized by intercultural exchange, flux, and strife, the pages of our journal are eclectic. They are welcoming of many points of view and formal approaches, open to controversy, and responsive to shifting cultural conditions. In each issue, we hope to chronicle the diverse ways that visual and literary artists are participating in this tumultuous historical moment.

We publish criticism, belle-lettres, visual art, illustration, fiction, poetry, and graphic essays. We are especially interested in promoting innovative projects combining word, image, and design; collaborations between writers and artists; ekphrastic creations; and groundbreaking critical essays.

Full Bleed is designed and produced by participants in Publishing Culture, an upper-level practicum for graduate and undergraduate students at MICA.

We are a proud member of the Community of Literary Magazine and Presses, which cited the journal as a finalist for a 2019 Firecracker Award for Best Debut Magazine.