Skip to Content

Haus of Liberated Reading’s Twin Anthology

Information
Closing date: 
2 July 2017
Entry: 
Essays, short stories and poetry from writers from across the African diaspora No entry fee
Prize: 
Inclusion in the anthology

Haus of Liberated Reading

The home of radical writing and the literature of decolonised minds.

In February we issued our initial ‘soft' call out for contributors to our upcoming twin anthology (the title of which will be revealed next year) in order to gauge initial interest. We're pleased to say we have already received a number of submissions and now we'd like to issue some more information for you - consider this the official ‘hard' call out.

In the works for some time, writer and poet Siana Bangura will be editing a twin anthology of writing by Black writers from across the African diaspora. This upcoming work aims to be global - we want writers and voices represented from across the gender, geographical, cultural and thought spectrum.

We are looking for thought-provoking, intelligent, and well-written essays to form the heart of the collection, as well as a handful of short stories and a select number of poems to tie the work together. This body of writing aims to map our simultaneously linked, as well as wildly different stories as people of the vast African diaspora, wherever we have found ourselves in the world.

We are asking for abstract submissions (clear summaries of what your work is about and why it should have a home in our twin anthology) of no more than 500 words. Please include details of who you are and your writing background, as well as why you'd like to work with us and why we should work with you. Feel free to include links to your writing portfolio, blog, or to pieces you've written for other platforms.

The deadline for submissions of abstracts will be Sunday 2nd July at 11.59 pm (GMT).

After this date, the editorial team will look through all submissions and choose which are of most interest. We will then be in touch with those writers and request submission of the full body of work they wish to be considered for the anthology. We are working to a strict timeline so please, once contacted, have the work ready to submit immediately. This means that before submitting your abstract make sure the work exists or that it will exist and be ready should you be called upon, at least in draft form. Please note that we ask for all work submitted to be new and never before published anywhere else (this includes online in blogs or on other platforms as well as offline in any other books, journals and so on). We will consider old work/ previously published work that has been adapted and re-purposed by the writer for this particular project, if appropriate. If you are unclear on this point please feel free to get in touch with us via email using the contact form on our website.

The only theme for this twin anthology is the global black experience and its infinite layers. This means that your essay, short story, or poetry can focus on any theme you feel is most important to you. We envisage the main contributions to this body of work being in essay form. We will be looking for a handful of exceptional, high quality, and engaging short stories and poems to include sparingly within the collection. We are seeking writing by Black men, Black women, and Black non-binary and gender-fluid/ non-conforming writers from across the UK, USA, Europe, the Caribbean, across the vast continent of Africa, South America, Australasia and any other part of the world in which you have found yourself. We want the vast range of voices of the African Diaspora to be included.

We realise this is an ambitious project but we believe that now more than ever similarities, differences, patterns, and uniqueness of Black voices must be amplified. We hope to join the dots and connect our global stories in the hope of building understanding, solidarity, and a dialogue that transcends the global West and South divides. We foresee this project involving travelling when necessary in order to find the voices we need and want so although our resources are stretched, we will make this happen.

All contributors will be remunerated for their work. Details of which will be discussed with the writers we have chosen to work with (we want to manage your expectations right from the get-go and so must emphasise that although we are seeking more funding for this project, please note we are a tiny independent publishing house with limited resources so the fee will be respectable but humble).

You may submit more than one piece of work but it is strongly likely that only one contribution from any one writer will end up in the final collection as we aim to showcase as many voices and stories as possible. Quality over quantity is absolutely key so we would rather one brilliant essay than two mediocre essays from you or one strong short story as opposed to three mediocre offerings. Show us your best work and tell your most important stories.

For more details

Closing date: 
2 July 2017
Entry: 
Essays, short stories and poetry from writers from across the African diaspora No entry fee
Prize: 
Inclusion in the anthology