Call for Submissions - Tea Party Magazine

[courtneyarnold]

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Tea Party Magazine 17, THE TRANS* ISSUE

1 Bay Area magazine + 1 WACCO Fiction Editor = 1 great opportunity for NATIONAL exposure!

TEA PARTY magazine seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, photography, visual art, comics, and feature essays for its upcoming issue #17, to be published in Summer 2007. As a non-profit arts & culture magazine based in Oakland and San Francisco, we publish work by writers, artists, intellectuals, and activists from diverse cultures, communities, and fields of study. Our core focus is the intersection of creativity and social justice. We are distributed in independent bookstores both nationally and in Canada.

If you've never read Tea Party before, we strongly suggest you check out sample content at www.tparty.org or www.teapartymagazine.org to get a sense of what we publish. Or, better yet, call your local independent bookstore and pick up an issue. For submission guidelines see our website or send a SASE to the address below.

Our theme for Issue #17 is TRANS* in all its many shades of meaning. As a prefix or abbreviation, TRANS* can mean "across, beyond, through, on or to the other side, into another state or place, change, the opposite side of," or can even refer to something farther and allow us to experience new, in-between states. What does TRANS* mean to you? What words or associations does it conjure? Here are just a few possibilities:

TRANS* lation TRANS* formation TRANS* ition TRANS* cultural TRANS* cendence TRANS* gender TRANS* fer TRANS* portation TRANS* position TRANS* generational TRANS* action TRANS* cription TRANS* mission TRANS* ience TRANS* plant TRANS* parency TRANS* fat TRANS* creation

How does TRANS* speak to our experience as individuals and as communities, and what meaning does TRANS* have for us as a society at this particular point in history? We welcome other ways you can think of to relate to this theme. Surprise us!

Email work to the appropriate editor & include "TRANS* SUBMISSION"
in the heading by the submission deadline listed (received by):

* Feature essays by Jan. 29th to Features Editor, Kim Vo at [email protected]
* Poetry by Feb. 12th to Poetry Editor, Oscar Bermeo at [email protected]
* Fiction by Feb. 19th to Fiction Editor, Courtney Arnold at [email protected]
* Artwork by April 2nd to Art Editor, Shannon Petrello at [email protected]

WHAT TEA PARTY MAGAZINE IS LOOKING FOR

Tea Party magazine focuses on the intersection of creativity and social justice. We especially support voices of artists and writers who are grappling with issues of social justice and are often marginalized or underrepresented, such feminists, people of color, the homeless, veterans, migrant workers, youth, the incarcerated, and so on. The common denominator of Tea Party contributors is a creative and progressive approach to their work, whether it's through art, literature, activism, or science. Humor is always welcome! The editors are strongly committed to maintaining diversity of voice within each issue.


WHAT TO SEND US

* FICTION: Send only one story per submission, from one page up to 12 double-spaced pages (or 3,000 words). Submissions should be typed and double-spaced. Make sure your name is on each page. Translations welcome.

* ESSAYS: Send one essay per submission, from one page up to 12 double-spaced pages (or 3,000 words). Essays should relate to the theme through an arts and/or culture lens. Ideally it has some well-crafted social/political analysis, while still meeting the guidelines for strong feature-writing. (i.e. doesn't make the mistake of being too complex, abstract or losing sight of human stories).

* POETRY: Send 3-5 poems per submission. Do not send more than 4 poems if longer than 3 pages each. Do not fold poems individually or staple poems together. Translations welcome.

* ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, & COMICS: Send 3-5 images of high resolution (at least 300 dpi) and either sent as a TIFF or EPS files only (no JPEGs, PDFs, GIFs, PSDs, or indexed color files). Visual works must also be publishable in black and white or in a sepia color format (not full color) so the higher the contrast the better. Please make sure all images are in grayscale (no RGB, CYMK files, no rich black). Be aware that images created in some programs automatically are color files, even if they LOOK black and white.

* REVIEWS: Send 1-2 reviews up to 12 double-spaced pages (or 3,000 words) of books, visual art, plays, music performances that address the theme. We're also open to other types of reviews.

* INTERVIEWS: This is typically an interview with an artist or writer who has developed a substantial body of work, and is considered a major innovator or visionary in their field. (up to 3000 words incl. excerpt—6 pages). We also accept interviews of a homeless of formerly homeless artist or writer's first-person story of their life (1600 words or 4 pages).

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK

* We prefer e-mail submissions. Please send as an attachment as well as pasted into the body of an e-mail. Be sure to include your name, mailing address, e-mail address and phone number on the cover letter, as well as your name on each numbered page. Include a brief bio (50 words or less) with your submission. Please address your submission to the appropriate editor (listed above). Snail mail: If you have no computer access you may send submissions to the following address: Attn: Senior Editor, 4240 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114. Enclose a SASE for our response (include additional postage if work is to be returned). We do not return unsolicited work. Reports on submissions within 6 months. Though we prefer previously unpublished works, we do consider previously published work as well as novel excerpts. Simultaneous submissions are fine if you give us 2 months of lead time before submitting the same work somewhere else. Clearly mark envelope to the appropriate genre editor's attention (e.g. "Fiction Editor"). Honorarium: Tea Party pays an honorarium of $10 to $50 for all work accepted. Each contributor receives three copies of the issue, as well as an invitation to the magazine release party. Some contributors from each issue will have the opportunity to read their work at this event.

* Theme: Each issue of Tea Party is devoted to a new theme and so the submitted works must address the special theme for the upcoming issue in order to be considered. Feel free to include a brief explanation as to how you see your work addressing the upcoming theme of "TRANS*."

* Sample Issues: If you have never read Tea Party before, we strongly suggest you look at an issue before submitting work. Sample back issues are $5, e-mail or call us and we'll send you one.

Tea Party magazine supports all people who struggle against oppression for self-determination by presenting a venue in which we can tell the truth about our lives, reveal what has been hidden, and/or present a vision of liberation and a strategy towards it. Most of what you read or see in Tea Party has something to do with culture and the way it shapes our lives--culture as language, as image, or as a hieroglyphic of the heart. Our contributors engage with the complexities of the world by exploring the gray areas between different cultures and identities, avoiding assumptions and stereotypes. We encourage cross-cultural collaborations.