We need your input to make good on the promise of the aspirationally titled Saltbox Concern: The Journal of the Baltimore Saltbox – Vol. 1. We’ll be accepting submissions for Vol. 2 at baltimore.saltbox@gmail.com until September 15, 2023. Read on for more about the zine and what we need to make the next edition happen. 

Our friends at Atomic Books and comic artist Ben Classen III of Dirt Farm fame did a masterful job pulling together and publishing Saltbox Concern Vol. 1, and we’re very happy how well it was received. The Library of Congress picked up some copies for future inclusion on their Zine Collection and we hear that John Waters is a fan. We’ve also learned some valuable lessons about what to avoid doing in future volumes, namely trying to include maps of saltbox art locations that become out-of-date before the ink is dry. 

Is there enough left to be said about a utilitarian piece of Baltimore infrastructure to warrant  another zine about the Baltimore Saltbox? Well, a lot has happened since we spun up the @baltimore.saltbox Instagram account (now 7,000+ followers strong) and Juliet Ames dropped Salt Box No. 1 to start the saltbox art movement. National media outlets including the The New Yorker and Good Morning America covered the saltbox phenomenon, Saltbox Cornhole debuted at Hampdenfest 2022, and the Baltimore City Department of Transportation commissioned giant saltboxes art pieces by artists Liz Miller, Matt Muirhead, Jamsin Manning, and Akio Evans.

There’s certainly another zine’s worth of material in those events but we really want to tell your Baltimore Saltbox story, however that manifests: prose or poetry, tall tale or urban legend, photo or drawing. For text, brevity is our friend. For everything else, surprise us. We’ll credit your work and give you some copies of the finished zine. This is a labor of love, not profit.

Again, reach us at baltimore.saltbox@gmail.com with your questions and submissions. We’ve hoping to get Vol. 2 done for the fall 2023 season, so we’re accepting submissions until September 15, 2023.