Call for Submissions: We Are Deathless: An Afropoetry Anthology
Aren’t you tired already? In 2020, Africa remains under the boots of Western imperialism. In 2020, #BlackLivesMatter is a hashtag that still needs trending all over the world. Black immigrants were baselessly accused of spreading the coronavirus in China. The narrative surrounding the black identity remains a single story of strife and pain. Edited by Wale Ayinla and Kanyinsola Olorunnisola, We Are Deathless: An Afropoetry Anthology is poets’ response to that.
|
We are aiming for a new narrative with a multitude of black voices speaking their truths in unison. Blackness is no monolith; it exists in various forms and we want works that acknowledge its cultural, religious, ideological and sexual diversity. We want work that provokes; we want work that is experimental; we want work that is loud and boisterous; we want work that is calm and quiet. Hit us with your best shot.
While our theme is the black identity, we are open to work that only dances around the subject. After all, even our ordinary, non-socially conscious works are political in a world that seeks to drown out our voices. The title is inspired by Deathless, a song by Ibeyi an Afro-French Cuban duo. |
Eligiibilty & instructions
● Submission is open only to writers who identify as black: this includes Africans, African Americans, Afro-Caribbean people etc. Blackness is an expansive identity and everyone is welcome regardless of age, sexual orientation, gender identity or geography.
● Writers can submit up to four (4) previously unpublished poems enclosed in a single Word document—typed in Times New Romans, Font 12, and single-spaced—to afropoetryanthology@gmail.com.
● The subject of the email should read Your Last Name – Afropoetry Anthology e.g Ayinla – Afropoetry Anthology.
● Please include the following details in the body of the e-mail: Full Name/Pen Name, Title of Poem(s), Nationality, E-mail Address, Phone Number and brief bio of between 50 and 150 words. None of these should appear in the document itself.
● Only poems written in English are eligible for submission. While we would appreciate the infusion of native languages in the service of decolonization, the poems must be written in a way that allows our English-speaking editors to grasp their meanings.
● With the definition of “poetry” increasingly changing, we are open to every style you can think of: pop poetry, haikus, voice note transcripts, rap bars, spiritual chants, hypertext, erasure etc. You can play around with form and surprise us.
● Submissions are open from October 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020.
● The anthology will be published in a downloadable PDF format on www.sprinng.org in February.
● Writers can submit up to four (4) previously unpublished poems enclosed in a single Word document—typed in Times New Romans, Font 12, and single-spaced—to afropoetryanthology@gmail.com.
● The subject of the email should read Your Last Name – Afropoetry Anthology e.g Ayinla – Afropoetry Anthology.
● Please include the following details in the body of the e-mail: Full Name/Pen Name, Title of Poem(s), Nationality, E-mail Address, Phone Number and brief bio of between 50 and 150 words. None of these should appear in the document itself.
● Only poems written in English are eligible for submission. While we would appreciate the infusion of native languages in the service of decolonization, the poems must be written in a way that allows our English-speaking editors to grasp their meanings.
● With the definition of “poetry” increasingly changing, we are open to every style you can think of: pop poetry, haikus, voice note transcripts, rap bars, spiritual chants, hypertext, erasure etc. You can play around with form and surprise us.
● Submissions are open from October 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020.
● The anthology will be published in a downloadable PDF format on www.sprinng.org in February.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Wale Ayinla is a Nigerian writer.
His works recently appeared or are forthcoming on Guernica, South Dakota Review, The LitQuarterly, Cimarron Review, Slipstream, Ruminate Magazine, McNeese Review, Waccamaw, Poet Lore, Palette Poetry, and elsewhere.
He is a staff reader for Adroit Journal. A Best of the Net and Best New Poets Award nominee, & in 2019, he was a finalist for numerous prizes which include the Brittle Paper Award for Poetry, and his manuscript, Sea Blues on Water Meridian was a finalist for the inaugural CAAPP Book Prize.
His works recently appeared or are forthcoming on Guernica, South Dakota Review, The LitQuarterly, Cimarron Review, Slipstream, Ruminate Magazine, McNeese Review, Waccamaw, Poet Lore, Palette Poetry, and elsewhere.
He is a staff reader for Adroit Journal. A Best of the Net and Best New Poets Award nominee, & in 2019, he was a finalist for numerous prizes which include the Brittle Paper Award for Poetry, and his manuscript, Sea Blues on Water Meridian was a finalist for the inaugural CAAPP Book Prize.
Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is a poet, essayist and writer of fiction. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Popula, Gertrude, Barren Magazine, The Account, Jalada, Bakwa, Bodega and elsewhere.
His debut chapbook, In My Country, We’re All Crossdressers, was published in 2018 by Praxis.
His manuscript, The Negroverse Theory, was a finalist for the 2020-2021 Glass Chapbook Series. Among others, he won the 2020 K&L Prize for African Literature, the 2017 Fisayo Soyombo National Essay Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2019 Koffi Adddo Prize for Creative Non-Fiction.
His debut chapbook, In My Country, We’re All Crossdressers, was published in 2018 by Praxis.
His manuscript, The Negroverse Theory, was a finalist for the 2020-2021 Glass Chapbook Series. Among others, he won the 2020 K&L Prize for African Literature, the 2017 Fisayo Soyombo National Essay Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2019 Koffi Adddo Prize for Creative Non-Fiction.