Exile Quarterly and Exile Editions

$15,000 FOR CANADA’S BEST SHORT STORY!

The inaugural Nona Macdonald Heaslip $15,000 Prize for the Morley Callaghan Short Fiction Award. 

Submission deadline: Friday, June 30, 2023.

All genres and styles considered. 

• A story’s length is not to exceed 6,000 words. Your story should be submitted with double-spacing, on 8.5x11 pages, in a serif (Times, Garamond, etc.) 11 or 12 point font.

• There is no restriction on the number of submissions, subject matter, or style.

• If submitting more than one story, please complete a form for each story.

• Each story submitted requires a $35.00 fee.

• Each story submitted will receive a one year/4-issue subscription to our Exile Quarterly ($35.00 value).

• Important: Do NOT have your name appear anywhere on the pages of the story. Make sure to paginate and put the story’s title on each page.

The winner and four additional finalists will appear in EXILE Quarterly in late 2023 (Volume 46).

The competition is open to Canadian writers only – Complete guidelines and information at:
www.ExileQuarterly.com/poetry-and-fiction-competitions

__________________________________________

Administered under the auspices of The Excelsis Group and EXILE Quarterly

Through the Portal: Stories From a Hopeful Dystopia - open call for submissions of all-new works.

Edited by: Lynn Hutchinson Lee and Nina Munteanu

“Historically pandemics have forced humans to break with their past and imagine a world anew. This one is no different. It’s a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it dragging the carcasses of our prejudices, our hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies. Or we can walk through it lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”– Arundhati Roy

Inspired by Arundhati Roy’s vision, we’re looking for eco-fiction stories that celebrate the complexity of relationships and the emotional and physical journey from catastrophe.

The emergence of the term eco-fiction as a brand of literature suggests that we are all awakening—authors and readers—to our changing environment. In eco-fiction, the environment—or a specific aspect of the environment—plays a major role in the story, either as premise or as a character with agency.

Hopeful dystopias are much more than an apparent oxymoron; they are in some fundamental way the spearhead of the future––and ironically often a celebration of human spirit by shining a light through the darkness of disaster. Atwood argued that dystopias and cautionary tales ultimately embrace an element of hope, through a character’s experience. Dystopias can serve as a road map for individual or community endurance, resilience, and triumph through disaster.

Storytelling about how the Earth takes care of us–and how we can take care of the Earth–is urgently needed. This means embracing a more eco-centric worldview; a worldview in which humanity is not central, but lies embedded within greater planetary forces and phenomena. A worldview that sees humanity only as part of a greater entity, as a participant in a greater existential celebration of life and the elements.

Eco-fiction can help us co-create a new narrative: one about how the Earth gifts us with life and how we can give in return. We envisage stories about healing our communities––geographic, metaphorical and imaginary––ourselves, and Mother Earth; stories showing how she takes care of us, and how we can take care of her. The stories we love involve a premise of environmental calamity in which Mother Earth, nature, or aspects of these, have an actual voice as a character, and a protagonist who learns to interact with it, often cooperatively.

What We’re Looking For:

Send us your eco-fiction stories or prose poems––literary, magical, speculative, solarpunk, supernatural, slipstream, reimagined folk/fairy tales. We want eco-fiction that envisions imaginaries and relationships in a new or changing world. How do we walk through the portal to the other side? How will we address or overcome the legacy of the past: the negative actors and social constructs, environmental devastation, racism, exploitation, pathologies?

We look forward to reading your work! We want submissions from everyone, emerging through established, and from all communities––including but not limited to LGBTQ2S+, Black, Indigenous, marginalized, culturally diverse, the deaf and disabled. Stories can be literary or speculative, with the environment playing an essential role in the narrative. We welcome visual content in the form of illustrations accompanying a story or prose poem, or as graphic stories. We’d be delighted to receive international submissions, although 90% of the authors must live in or have ties to Canada (through paying income tax, owning property, etc.)

Submission Details:

Original unpublished work up to 3,500 words. Fictional stories only. No novel excerpts, essays or poetry (although we do welcome prose poems). If you have something that almost-but-not-quite fits the criteria as it is laid out here, but you’re certain of its awesomeness, please do submit it anyway. Legible 12-point serif or sans serif font. Doc.x format only. Visual elements either as illustration or graphic stories. No multiple submissions. Please fill out the fields in the submission form.

Call for submissions closes: Wednesday May 31, 2023

Payment: 5 cents/word CDN

Editors: Lynn Hutchinson Lee and Nina Munteanu

Rights: Exclusive English World; no reprints for one year.

Expected Publication Date: Fall 2023 or Spring 2024

AKI – Mother Earth – open call for submissions of all-new works.

The second volume in a mini-series within “The Exile Book of Anthology Series” featuring short fiction and image-based works by Indigenous creators. (BAWAAJIGAN was the first, ONWAACHIGEWIN in 2023 will be the third.)

Edited by: Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler and Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

What does Mother Earth mean to us?

AKI will be a collection of all-new fictional stories by Indigenous writers in many different genres, including art-based works, about what Mother Earth mean to us.

From creation stories of Miikinakominis (the land that used to be a turtle), to home and homeland(s), being on the Rez or in the city. How do we value our connections to waters, metals, stones, plants, animals, and the other beings that share space with us?

Where do the stories take place, and/or where are we found: far off cities, unfamiliar countries, cities beneath the seas, communities deep within uncharted jungles or in remote mountains, exoplanet solar systems, galaxies with non-carbon-based inhabitants, inside a multiverse or deep within a microverse?

Are certain places and/or objects off limits? Places of burial, mysterious phenomenon, geoglyphs, petroglyphs, architectures, mounds, and medicine wheels. Or what about places that are scarred or bear the marks of trauma? Or how has human interference shaped the land and led to interactions with other beings and the elements? Can a place be cursed? Can a place be haunted?

What are the stories behind sites of contention and resistance where power and justice conflict, whether strategic, Reserved, Crown, unceded, resource rich, overlooked, or spiritually significant?

How does the land figure into isolation, loneliness, or empowerment?

From Treaty, to extinguishment, tornadoes, lightning striks, and forces of nature, we want to hear your stories about how the land is a source of inspiration, strength, and power!

What are we looking for:

Stories must be by Indigenous writers: First Nation, Inuit, Métis, Status or Non-Status. We’d also love to consider Indigenous writers who do not live in Canada, but a restriction is that at least 90% of the authors in the anthology must live in Canada, or continue to maintain ties to Canada, such as owning property, paying taxes, etc. while living abroad.

We look for all to submit, but do encourage submissions from New-generation (18-30 years of age) and 2SLGBTQ+ communities.

Submissions including Indigenous languages are also welcome (although please include English translations - these may be used with the story, in an appendix, or not at all, depending on the final editorial considerations for the project).

The stories can be influenced by cultural understanding, traditional knowledge, set in modern day/historical/or futuristic settings, but filtered through a fictional lens. Stories can be in any genre, including but not limited to magic realism, alternative history, literary fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, horror, romantic comedy, erotica, urban-fantasy, mystery, and graphic-forms (comics, illustrations, paintings, etc.) – they can also be based on mythical creatures, supernatural entities, or technologies that do not exist in real life, so long as the story is in some way about drawing strength from the power of the land.

Tropes to avoid: being too hokey about returning to the land and receiving wisdom, over-done spiritualism, casting Indigenous people in a historically inaccurate past, Indian Burial Grounds causing havoc for White people (unless it’s entertaining), etc.

Submission Details:

Original unpublished work up to 5,000 words. Fictional stories only. No reprints. No novel excerpts, poetry or essays. If you have something that almost-but-not-quite fits the criteria as it is laid out here, but you’re certain of its awesomeness, please do submit it anyway. Legible 12-point font. On the first page of the uploaded file, please include your Indigenous affiliation, your name, contact info, and word count.

Call for submissions closes: Friday, March 31, 2023.

Payment: 5 cents/word CDN$

Graphic forms on a case-by-case basis.

Editors: Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler & Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

Rights: Exclusive English World, no re-prints for one year.

Expected Publication Date: Autumn 2023 or Spring 2024.

ONWAACHIGEWIN – Prophecy – open call for submissions of all-new works.

The third volume in a mini-series within “The Exile Book of Anthology Series” featuring short fiction and image-based works by Indigenous creators. (BAWAAJIGAN was the first, AKI in 2023 will be the second.)

Edited by: Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler and Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

Onwaachigewin will be a collection of fictional stories by Indigenous writers in many different genres, including art-based works, about what it means to glimpse the future, how foreknowledge and foretelling can serve as warning, protection, or be a matter of survival. From omens, spirit guides, premonitions, migration stories, and the Seven Fires Prophecy, to predictions encoded in wampum, cowrie shells, beads, birch-bark scrolls, petroforms and petroglyphs.

Onwaachigewin (an Ojibwe word for prophecy) has often played a powerful role in Indigenous cultures across Turtle Island: prophecies have changed the course of history, at times serving as warning, insight, guidance, solace, or hope – or at times as misdirection through misinterpretation. In Onwaachigewin we are gathering fictional stories about what it means to see the future and be Indigenous, how prophecy weaves through our realities, how it has impacted our histories, and the stories we tell each other and the world.

There are many ways of seeing the future: scrying, divination, the study of entrails, astrology, necromancy, numerology, scientific calculations, Ouija boards, ventriloquism, dowsing rods, tea-leaves, fortune cookies, cards, and the casting of bones. There are also many visions of the future, from the end of the world, close calls and near disasters, global warming and collapse, to utopias – or divine intervention, transformation, and biological or digital immortality. 

How do luck, freewill, fate or destiny fit into the equation? How do animals sometimes know things before humans? Can aching bones predict the weather? Is prophecy a type of self-fulfilling feedback loop? Can a vision of the future make that future come to pass and/or is there only one potential outcome to our reality? Or is prophecy merely a form of guidance? What about scientific forms of prediction? How do animals or ghosts perceive the passage of time? What if two people have the same vision? Do alternative time-lines exist? Can a prediction weigh on you? What if a prophecy came true? What if a prophecy fails to come true? 

Prophecy: does it reveal or conceal? A prediction can be personal, local, regional, global or even celestial in its impact. What does our future hold? We want to hear your stories about the strength and power of Prophecy!

What are we looking for:

Stories must be by Indigenous writers: First Nation, Inuit, Métis, Status or Non-Status. We’d also love to consider Indigenous writers who do not live in Canada, but a restriction is that at least 90% of the authors in the anthology must live in Canada, or continue to maintain ties to Canada, such as owning property, paying taxes, etc. while living abroad.

We look for all to submit, but do encourage submissions from New-generation (18-30 years of age) and Two Spirit/LGBTQIAP communities.

Submissions including Indigenous languages are also welcome (although please include English translations - these may be used with the story, in an appendix, or not at all, depending on the final editorial considerations for the project).

The stories can be influenced by cultural understanding, traditional knowledge, set in modern day/historical/or futuristic settings, but filtered through a fictional lens. Stories can be in any genre, including but not limited to magic realism, alternative history, literary fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, horror, romantic comedy, erotica, urban-fantasy, mystery, and graphic-forms (comics, illustrations, paintings, etc.) – they can also be based on mythical creatures, supernatural entities, or technologies that do not exist in real life, so long as the story is in some way about drawing strength from the power of the land.

Tropes to avoid: being too hokey about returning to the land and receiving wisdom, over-done spiritualism, casting Indigenous people in a historically inaccurate past, Indian Burial Grounds causing havoc for White people (unless it’s entertaining), etc.

Submission Details:

Original unpublished work up to 5,000 words. Fictional stories only. No reprints. No novel excerpts, poetry or essays. If you have something that almost-but-not-quite fits the criteria as it is laid out here, but you’re certain of its awesomeness, please do submit it anyway. Legible 12-point font. On the first page of the uploaded file, please include your Indigenous affiliation, your name, contact info, and word count.

Call for submissions closes: Friday, March 31, 2023.

Payment: 5 cents/word CDN.

Graphic forms on a case-by-case basis.

Editors: Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler & Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith.

Rights: Exclusive English World, no re-prints for one year.

Expected Publication Date: Autumn 2023 or Spring 2024.

EXILE: The Literary Quarterly supports, encourages, and presents a vital and diverse arts ecology that enriches the reading and cultural experiences of our Canadian and international newsstand and subscription readers.

EXILE publishes literary and speculative fiction, poetry, non-fiction, drama, translations, and a wide range of visual arts/artists, from across Canada and around the world. 

We publish quarterly, and in those 4 issues per year feature approximately 60 - 70 contributors. 

Only previously unpublished material will be considered for publication. We look for progressive talent who have previously published through to new talent redefining the boundaries of contemporary literature and art.

$10 fee required for Submittable, or if submitting by Canada Post (cheque) – or by e-transfer to competitions@exilequarterly.com (important: indicate what the fee relates to).

+++++

Submitting/Genres:

FICTION

We consider a strong narrative voice, memorable characters, and a unique flair that aspires to represent the diverse Canadian mosaic.

NON-FICTION

This content can appear in any of our feature sections – Word & Art, Gravitas, My Five, among others – but also can be stand-alone social or political commentary. We look for well-considered (and researched) writing with a literary style that will interest our readership and experts alike. We avoid  dry, jargon-filled academic prose.

POETRY

We look for a distinct voice found in the lines. We are open to all forms of poetic approaches.

TRANSLATION

Works in translation (fiction and poetry) include Francophone into English, as well as international authors into English (most often translated by Canadians). Our long-standing tradition of supporting  translation includes over 400 such works to date.

DRAMA

A self-contained selection from a larger work, or a short/complete dramatic piece.

VISUAL ART

For over 45 years we have presented an incredibly wide range of visual approaches: painting, drawing, photography, illustration, mixed media, sculpture – publishing anything that is rooted in integrity, displays purpose, and that will resonate with our readers.

+++++

DO:

Consider if your submission is compatible with our publishing program: we assume you have read previous issues... but if not, take the time to look at past issues (contributors) on our website – or perhaps consider ordering previous print copies to familiarize yourself with our 50 years and over 2,500 contributions-to-date.

Using Submittable (also applicable for snail mail):

• Cover Letter telling us about yourself and your contribution.

• Brief CV indicating only your publishing-related history (if applicable).

• Fiction – please try to stay under 3,500 words.

• Poetry – a suite of 8 to 10 poems.

• Non-fiction – an outline of the concept, plus either the complete text, or a sample.

• Art with Non-fiction (or vice versa; or with fiction; or poetry) the proposed contribution in its entirety (as a PDF in 72 dpi resolution).

• Drama – it must be a complete work, eg. an Act from a full play that stands on its own, or a short play – either option, up to 10 pages.

• Visual Art - 4 to 8 selections of art that will work as a stand-alone section.

After submitting, please be patient. We receive some 500 unsolicited submissions a year (plus those by way of other open calls, such as our literary competitions and editor-recommendations) and it takes time for them to be evaluated. We aim to respond to all submissions within three months.

+++++

DO NOT:

Send us a submission if you have sent it out to other publishers for consideration.

Send us a submission if you are not a Canadian citizen or resident. We do not accept unsolicited materials from non-Canadian writers (although we do publish international writers based on recommendation).

Send us your submission electronically to an Exile Quarterly email account.

Contact us regarding the status of your submission. We keep track of  all submissions received. (However, if four months have passed, you may email us at admin@exilequarterly.com)

Expect feedback. We do not offer editorial comment on submissions unless we feel the work has potential for inclusion in our magazine.

+++++

We still do old school…

POSTAL MAIL – SUBMIT TO:

EXILE Quarterly
(please indicated: Attn: fiction / poetry / non-fiction / drama / visual arts editor)
170 Wellington Street West
PO Box 308
Mount Forest ON  N0G 2L0

Important: include a cover letter with your contact details, and any other relevant information.

Recycle: we do not return submissions; all materials are recycled, or properly disposed of.

++++

$10 Fee for submitting: this goes to the editors who read and consider the submissions.

Payment methods:

1) Apply to your Submittable submission.

2) If submitting by Canada Post, include a cheque payable to THE EXCELSIS GROUP.

3) If submitting by Canada Post, make an e-transfer to competitions@exilequarterly.com (important: indicate what the fee relates to).

All forms and styles of poetry considered.  Open only to Canadian writers.

Closes Tuesday, January 31, 2023 (extended from December 31, 2022).

General guidelines:
• Up to 16 pages of poetry may be submitted as a suite (we advise the poems be a related grouping, not a hodgepodge of random selections; you may also submit a long/single poem).
• Formatting: single line spacing, on 8.5x11 pages, in a serif (eg Times, Garamond, etc.) 11 or 12 point font.
• There is no restriction on the number of submissions, subject matter, or style.
• If submitting more than one suite, please complete a separate submission form for each entry.
• Each suite submitted requires a $35.00 submission fee.
• Each suite submitted will receive a one-year/4-issue subscription to our Exile Quarterly ($39.00 value).
• Do NOT have your name appear anywhere on the pages of the poetry. Make sure to paginate (1/30, 2/30, 3/30...) and put the suite title on each page.

• Important: All (or any single) poems must not have been previously published. All work submitted for this competition must not be scheduled for publication in a book or anthology during the adjudication of our competition and/or and must not have been submitted elsewhere during the adjudication of our competition (approximately November 15, 2022 and/or until the shortlist is announced).

• Completing the Submission Form: Please include the following information:
a) Full Address (for your subscription).
b) Email and Telephone Number (in case we need to contact you).
c) Brief biography (five to seven lines) that includes previous periodical/online publications and/or book-length releases – publishing related information only, please.
d) Indicate if you are an Emerging Writer – or a Writer at Any Career Point (i.e. three or more published poetry books under your name). If there is a determination to be made, the judges will assess/confirm your category, based on your biography, books publication, awards, national media recognition, etc.
e) If you prefer we do not add your email to our mailing list, please indicate this on the submission form. (Each year we send some 15 notifications on our literary events, updates on Exile Editions books and Exile Quarterly new releases, follow up on our competitions, etc.). Or, you can indicate you prefer only to receive email updates for this particular contest.

• For full contest details: www.ExileQuarterly.com/poetry-and-fiction-competitionsIf you have any submission questions, email: admin@exilequarterly.com

+++++

We still do old school…

POSTAL MAIL – SUBMIT TO:

EXILE Quarterly (please indicated: Attn: fiction / poetry / non-fiction / drama / visual arts editor)

170 Wellington Street West 

PO Box 308 Mount Forest ON  N0G 2L0

Important: include a cover letter with your contact details, and any other relevant information.

++++

$35 Fee for submitting: this goes to the editors who read and consider the submissions.

Payment methods:

1) Pay with your Submittable submission.

2) If submitting by Canada Post, include a cheque payable to THE EXCELSIS GROUP.

3) If submitting by Canada Post, make an e-transfer to competitions@exilequarterly.com (important: indicate what the fee relates to).

Recycle:

We do not return submissions. All materials are recycled, or properly disposed of.