calls for submissions

Call for Submissions: Distanced 3.0

August 2, 2020August 3, 2020by Aishwarya Javalgekar2 Comments

The Distanced Project hopes to capture a range of experiences and responses to the self or otherwise imposed isolation due to Covid-19. How does this isolation affect our bodies? How do the intersections of our identities and physicalities affect our access to amenities and our experiences with social distancing?

Distanced 3.0 will explore the far-reaching effects of Covid-19: from the hyper-personal to the sociopolitical, from current fears to future imaginations. Zoom out and show us the bigger picture. Or give us sneak peeks of your everyday life right now: organizing your junk drawer for the first time ever or falling apart to C movies on Netflix. Capture your zany, poignant, or heartbreaking moments. Or tell us what the future might look like.

We will be publishing short fiction, non-fiction, poetry, visual art and hybrid pieces throughout the month of August. As always, we want work that showcases intersectional experiences and identities, especially writing and art that intersects with class, race, mental health, physical well-being, and the environment.

Please submit a single piece of your work by filling out our form.

Submit

FAQs

1. When will I get published?

We are running this project through August. We will be reading submissions regularly and publishing selected work within a week.

2. Do you accept simultaneous submissions?

Yes!

3. I want to submit poetry AND visual art. Do you accept multiple submissions?

We accept submissions in multiple formats. So you can submit one poem, one visual art and one prose piece. Please fill out one form per format.

4. I was published in Distanced or Distanced 2.0. Can I submit again?

We would like to open 3.0 to new writers and artists. If you have been published in Distanced or Distanced 2.0, please sit this one out. But you are more than welcome to submit for our HAIR issue.

5. Can I just email you my work?

We are using the form to manage our submissions effectively for a quicker turnaround. We will not be considering email submissions for this project.

calls for submissions

Call for submissions: Issue 4

July 11, 2020by Aishwarya Javalgekar2 Comments

Our next issue focuses on the theme of HAIR.

Everyone has an opinion on hair: family, lovers, partners, friends, religion, culture, society. It has been a tool of oppression, a form of control, or an impossible beauty ideal that excludes most of the population. It has also become an extension of our identities— a form of protest, of self-expression, of finding our communities.

Tell us your hair stories: the color, the texture, the choices you make, how you feel about your hair. Has it always been in control? Have others’ opinions influenced how you wear it? What does your culture say about your hair? What’s a good or bad hair day for you? What makes you feel desirable? What makes you self-conscious?

We want fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art that intersect with broader issues or specific moments. Show us your stunning up-dos, your hair revelations, your hairy leg and sweaty armpit stories. Show us your fresh-haircut confidence and your bad hair hide-under-the-covers days.

Submit a single piece of your work to angstfzine@gmail.com. Add a short bio (<50 words) with your pronouns and social media handles. Don’t forget to mention the theme “HAIR” in the subject of your email. We welcome experimental and hybrid forms. Please read our general guidelines here before submitting.

Submissions will be open until 10th September.

Issue 4 will be out on 1st October, 2020.

calls for submissions, Statements

A statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement

June 8, 2020by Aishwarya JavalgekarLeave a Comment

We unequivocally support #BlackLivesMatter and the ongoing protests in the US and in other countries.

Intersectional feminism, anti-racism, and queer positivity are the foundations of ang(st). This zine is run by queer women of color. But our staff members are not Black, and we cannot even imagine or equate our experiences to the racism, aggression, and brutality faced by Black people across the world. We acknowledge that this is not our fight. We are here to support and promote Black protesters, organizers, activists, feminists, magazines, presses, writers and artists. We are here to provide a safe space for rage and healing.

We have launched new initiatives to support the movement and promote Black writers and artists on our platform.

1. Call for submissions: Queer Loving

We are creating a QTBIPOC issue for Pride month on the theme ‘Queer Loving’. Through this issue we want to create a positive and wholesome space for healing and solidarity. We are actively seeking poetry, prose, and visual art submissions from Black queer artists and writers.

Subs open till 25th June.

Issue goes live on 30th June.

Read the call for submissions here.

2. A New Collaboration

In our attempt to support and amplify important movements across the world, ang(st) and Ayaskala have decided to provide editorial feedback in collaboration.

We are offering feedback on 1-2 pages of work (poetry, flash fiction or creative non-fiction) on receiving proof of donation to any organization or fundraiser providing support and relief to #BlackLivesMatter or any other significant movement. Additionally, we are offering FREE editorial feedback to Black poets and writers.

All details available here.

3. Social Media Promotion

We are also showcasing and promoting Black queer artists and writers on our Twitter and Instagram. We are sharing:

recent artwork and publications by Black queer artists and writers
BLM-focused issues and projects
paid and unpaid opportunities and calls for submissions for Black writers and artists

Drop us an email or DM us on these sites if you want us to promote or boost something.

calls for submissions

Call for submissions: Queer Loving (updated)

June 5, 2020by Aishwarya Javalgekar2 Comments

This Pride month we want to celebrate queerness by creating something wholesome and positive— an escape from our crushing realities. We also want to highlight the beautiful parts of queer narratives that often get overshadowed. (Give us more queer stories with happy endings, amirite?) We know queerphobia exists. We know the queer experience is fraught with rejection and abuse. We don’t want it to define us.

We also support #BlackLivesMatter. People are fighting for their basic rights. People are starving, fighting, dying. Being queer does not excuse us from being complicit in these oppressive systems. There are queer victims, survivors, protesters, apologists, and perpetrators.

We have decided to go forward with our issue on Queer Loving while also elevating Black and queer voices and creating a space of love, courage and solidarity. So, we are creating a QTBIPOC issue. We especially want to publish Black queer experiences . We hope to provide a space of tenderness, healing and courage. Where we can find the strength to fight. Where we can examine our privilege and stand in solidarity.

Queer loving encompasses all forms of love: love for same or different genders, love for one or more people, sexual or kink-based bonds, platonic loves, friendships, relationships, love from supportive families or from the new families we create for ourselves, and finally, self-love. We’re looking for prose, poetry, hybrid and visual art. Share with us your objects of desire, your moments of connection, your stories of support and belonging. Tell us about the bodies you love and the bodies that love you.

How to Submit:

Send a single piece of your work to angstfzine@gmail.com.
Add a short bio (<50 words) in your cover letter with pronouns & social media handles (this is optional).
Mention Pride 2020 in the subject.

Submissions will be open from 1st to 25th June.

The issue will be published on 30th June, 2020.

calls for submissions

Call for Submissions: Pride 2020

May 23, 2020by Aishwarya JavalgekarLeave a Comment

This Pride month we are creating a special issue to celebrate pride and showcase queer people loving queer bodies. Keeping the current global situation in mind, we want to create an issue that focuses on the positive: the beauty and wholesomeness of queer love.

Queer loving encompasses all forms of love: love for same or different genders, love for one or more people, sexual or kink-based bonds, platonic loves, friendships, relationships, love from supportive families or from the new families we create for ourselves, and finally, self-love. Share with us your objects of desire, your moments of connection, your stories of support and belonging. Tell us about the bodies you love and the bodies that love you.

Send a single piece of your work (poetry, prose, visual art, or hybrid) to angstfzine@gmail.com. Make sure to include Pride2020 in the subject.

Submissions will be open from 1st to 25th June. The issue will be published on 30th June, 2020.

calls for submissions

Call for Submissions: Distanced 2.0

April 20, 2020May 16, 2020by Aishwarya JavalgekarLeave a Comment

What happens to the body in times of social distancing?

The body wants to stay safe but wants familiar connections and stimulation. It hosts fears and frustrations, about survival, and the future of the world. It is tired, frantic, and fragile. It also finds hope, solitude, and peace in slowing down.

We understand the significance of these experiences and emotions, and the need to express them to the world. So we are now announcing Distanced 2.0: a platform where you can share your experiences, vent your frustrations, find digital connections, reminisce happier pasts, or imagine better futures.

Building upon our success with the Distanced Project, we want to open our doors to all forms of art: poetry, prose, fiction, creative non-fiction, hybrid, visual art, photography, etc.

How to submit:

Send a single piece of your work to angstfzine@gmail.com with the subject (Submissions Distanced Title). Please include a short bio (< 50 words) in the body of the email along with your pronouns and social media handles.

Please only send us pieces that are currently unpublished. We ask for first world publication rights. You are free to publish your work elsewhere in the future but please mention that it was published with us first.

ang(st) is run by a team of volunteers and currently cannot offer payment to its contributors. We will be reading, responding and publishing works as and when they come in. However, please allow us some time to get back to you.

calls for submissions

Call for Submissions: Distanced Project

March 20, 2020April 14, 2020by Aishwarya Javalgekar

What happens to the body in times of social distancing?

The body wants to stay safe but wants familiar connections and stimulation. It hosts fears and frustrations, about survival, and the future of the world. It also finds hope, solitude, self-care and peace in slowing down.

This April, to celebrate National Poetry Writing Month, we want to capture your emotional responses to the self or otherwise imposed isolation due to Covid-19. We will publish ten poems that reflect the complexity of these trying times; and showcase a variety of experiences of this phenomenon.

Send us your experiences of being “Distanced“: your anxieties, your little celebrations, your moments of solace, your lost and found connections.

Send your entries to angstfzine@gmail.com with the subject (Submissions_Distanced_Name of the Poem). Send us a single poem as an attachment with a short bio (< 50 words) in the body of the email. We will be reading, responding and publishing poems throughout the month.

The project is now live on our website. Find it here.