Jalada Africa publishes a new literary and arts journal twice a year. Open calls for submissions run for specific periods. Outside the Spotlight and Translation series, we only publish work based on specified anthology themes. Find our current call-out below:
JALADA 10: Resistance
Pan-African arts and literature collective, Jalada Africa, confirms Resistanceas the theme for Jalada 10 and opens its call for submissions.
Rooted in the Latin word resistere—to make a stand, to oppose, to be dissident—resistance evokes images: of Mandela at Robben Island bearing the dreams of his people, of Che at the beachfront in Havana framed by Alberto Korda; of a little girl reading Little Women by lamplight, defiant of Boko Haram and fundamentalist terrors; of Kenya’s Freedom Corner Mothers who staged a hunger strike and stripped down to stop senseless violence and secure the release of their sons detained as political prisoners; of young protesters across the globe united by a single banner–that #BlackLivesMatter; of the lonesome poet or painter locked down in this period of pandemics and upheavals, creating nonetheless.
The current state of the world is tumultuous, and the past few years have seen many resistance movements rise. We envision Resistance as encompassing political, cultural and social opposition, from personal acts of dissidence to large-scale protests echoing across the world.
Resistance is a call to arms, a cry for change, an acknowledgement of the injustices that exist and the anthem of the oppressed. It is the quiet moments, witnessing, raising our voices, amplifying those who have been silenced. It is defiance and truth-telling, existing in spaces that were never meant for us. It is a whisper that dances between the trees, a devastating wind that transforms a community into a movement. It is found in refusing the language of the oppressors, creating and re-creating our own narratives, taking control of our songs and stories. It is joyful solidarity, tactics of care and empathy woven through with grief and struggle.
It is us, yearning, mourning, transforming and building a new world.
Key words: dissidence, protest, rebel, charge, witnessing, linguistic resistance, rights, struggle, defiance, freedom, margins, movement, community, solidarity, hope, change.
Jalada 10: Resistance, will be edited by Marziya Mohammedali.
SUBMISSIONS
1. Resistance Online
We welcome responses to the question of Resistance online as short poems, flash fiction and musings presented as (or alongside) original GIFs, memes, photos and videos.
Tag our handle Jalada Africa on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and use #Jalada10 to make sure we see it.
The submission window opens on February 24th , 2022 until Jalada 10 is published.
2. Jalada 10: Resistance Anthology
We seek to create an anthology of short fiction, poetry, essays, visual art, films and interviews (audio, visual or written) on the subject of Resistance.
Submissions will be received between February 24th, 2022 and April 18th, 2022.
Guidelines
Fiction
Each writer may submit one short fiction piece or excerpt not exceeding 6,000 words. Pieces should be formatted as follows: 1.5 spacing, 12pt Font Times New Roman.
Poetry
Please send no more than one poem. Pieces should be formatted as follows: 1.5 spacing, 12pt Font Times New Roman.
Essays
We invite scholarly and critical essays on the subject of Resistance. Essays must not extend beyond 5,000 words. Pieces should be formatted as follows: 1.5 spacing, 12pt Font Times New Roman.
Interviews
We welcome in-depth Q&A interviews/conversations of a journalistic, artistic or literary nature in response to the question of Resistance. A transcript should accompany any audio-visual file.
Visual art
Artists should submit their work as JPEGS (Min resolution: 150dpi, min size: 2000 px on the shortest side of the image, colour space: RGB). Each piece of art should include the following information: title of piece, year created, and if the artist feels it necessary, a short caption or contextualising/descriptive text of max 50 words. Images may also be submitted as accompaniments to written pieces.
This category will also include all submissions that present language in a visual manner, from typographic poems and posters to all other forms of text and display typography.
Audio
Audio submissions should include a title, short synopsis, and transcript. If it is accompanying a written work please indicate this in the description so the components may be published together. Audio files should be submitted in MP3 format. Ideally no files above 15MB (but can be negotiated if necessary).
Video
We welcome short clips on the theme of resistance, video poems, interviews and other presentations of up to 10 mins (longer clips may be accepted after consultation with editors). These should be either sent as a link to the video hosted externally as a hidden file e.g. an unlisted video on YouTube or Vimeo with access instructions, or as an MP4 file. Video submissions that are not hosted elsewhere may need to be sent via an appropriate drive link due to file size. Google Drive, DropBox, WeTransfer are some sites that you may want to use. Please include the following information: title of piece, year created, a short 50-word description, and transcript.
Notes:
- All submissions must be sent to jalada.submissions@gmail.com .
- Each story has to be sent as a separate Microsoft Word attachment, in the .doc/.docx format (strictly no PDFs). Clear label the story title and the names of the writer and/or translator.
- Each submission must contain the title of your piece and word count.
- Where applicable, the submission must contain both the original piece and the translation.
- If the submission includes language with non-roman script e.g. Arabic, it is preferable for the scripted portion to be sent as a high-fidelity image as well as a word document. This will ensure correct formatting for publication.
- All submissions must be accompanied by a biographical note, written in third person, and no more than 100 words in length.
- All submissions must be previously unpublished, except for the case of translations where the source text may have appeared elsewhere.
You must be logged in to post a comment.