Ninth Letter currently has an open call for submissions for their Winter 2018 web edition, which will feature the theme of climate, as well as for their 2018 Literary Awards.
According to their website, Ninth Letter “is a collaborative arts and literary project produced by the Creative Writing Program and School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.” It is edited and desgined by members of the faculty, as well as students of both programs. Their mission is “to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design.”
They’re accepting submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for their online edition, which will be published in Winter 2018. The final deadline for submissions will be March 31st.
Here’s what the website says about the theme:
The theme for this issue is climate. Subjected to climate change both in our localities and at a distance, how does our literature recognize and respond? Snow in Saudi Arabia. Bleached coral reefs. Bomb cyclones and a weakened polar vortex. Drought and unprecedented wildfire. Longer hurricane seasons. We hear this all around us, but what does it mean to you?
Send us stories that are witness to high water levels, that try to save a crop in a late frost, that sweat out a prolonged heatwave in the city. But send us also the stories that witness these changes through the mediums of interconnectivity as well as the lenses of distance and disconnect. We want poems that elegize the rhythms of climate, but also poems that break the expected forms into trend-defying fragments. We want lyrical essays that map internal landscapes and personal storms of transformation. But also narrative essays that investigate the disproportionate effects on underrepresented communities. We want the local stories and global perspectives, and the data sets through the lenses of personal meditation. We want images of erosion, witness to the forgotten, and new sources of power. Send us your internal storms, cleansing fire, and erratic seasons.
Ninth Letter is also accepting submissions for their 2018 Literary Awards in the categories of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Winners will be award $1000 and will be published in the Fall/Winter 2018-19 issue. The final deadline for that submission is April 30th.
Click here for more information on the details of submissions.
Photo from website.