SUBMIT

Special Folio: Call for Submissions

Silences of War: Erasure within Conflict

Edited by Hadara Bar-Nadav and Jameelah Lang

Submissions open July 1-31, 2022

We are seeking poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid work that engages with the untold or silenced side of “war” in all its variations—from global to national to domestic conflict. What and who is erased by violence?  What sounds do these silences make, and how can they be honored and represented?  How can destruction take the form of creation and utterance?  Send us your writing about historical and recent conflicts, forms of resistance and persistence, and the silences upheld by oppressive systems, structures, and individuals.  We especially welcome creative work from historically marginalized perspectives.  

The editors are seeking submissions of poetry, hybrid work, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Please email 3-5 poems (max 10 pages), 1-3 hybrid pieces (max 10 pages), or 1 essay or short story (max 7,500 words) to pleiadesfolio@gmail.com. Please include the genre of your submission in the subject line of your email, using the following format: “Silences of War Submission_GENRE”.

We will accept submissions for this folio only during the month of July.

REGULAR SUBMISSIONS:

•Pleiades will be open for regular submissions in 2022 during the month of June. Unsolicited poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and book reviews should be submitted via our online submissions manager. Unfortunately, we cannot consider paper submissions and emailed submissions, and mailed manuscripts will be recycled. Submissions sent outside the submission period will not be considered.

• Please remember to select the genre of your submission, as submissions sent with no genre marked will not be read.

• Though we attend to submissions as quickly as possible, please allow for up to six months before querying.

• We are especially interested in reading submissions from writers from historically marginalized communities as part of our commitment to a broad representation of dynamic work.

• Writers should review past issues of Pleiades to get a sense of our aesthetic and preferences. Order Pleiades here.

GENRE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

POETRY

Please send 3-5 poems. We are particularly interested in work that embraces risk and is lyrically inventive. We value work that gives voice to a range of lived experiences and employs a mastery of expression. Work of any length will be considered, and we look forward to reading your most polished poems. Please do not submit multiple packets during one submissions period. Direct questions regarding poetry to Jenny Molberg and Caitlin Cowan at pleiadespoetryeditor@gmail.com.

FICTION

Pleiades is looking for exceptional fiction, with a focus on well-developed characters, memorable language, provocatively-wrought subject matter, and immersive settings. While there are no length requirements, our journal has limited space, and manuscripts over 12,000 words will especially need to impress. Some stories may be considered for our “online exclusives” category. Please direct questions regarding fiction to Jennifer Maritza McCauley at pleiadesfictioninquiries@gmail.com.

CREATIVE NONFICTION

While we enjoy essays and nonfiction in all forms, here at Pleiades we are particularly interested in creative nonfiction that gazes out at the world rather than into the self. This is to say nothing against memoir, only that our publishing aesthetic leans towards the exterior in order to balance what we often see as a focus on memoir and interiority in many literary journals. Essays that perform a weave of the personal with an outward gaze are very welcome. We do not only consider externally-focused creative nonfiction, but this is our taste preference. Limit creative nonfiction submissions to 6,000 words. Please direct questions regarding nonfiction to Clint Crockett Peters at pleiadescnf@gmail.com.

BOOK REVIEWS

The Pleiades Book Review is now published online. We are open for book review submissions year-round. If you are interested in submitting a book review to be considered for the PBR, please submit via our submissions portal at pleiadessubmissions.com. We prefer submissions of full reviews to emailed queries, and make sure you mark your genre as “book reviews for Pleiades.” Any mailed or emailed book review submissions will not considered. Direct any questions to Reviews Editor Taneum Bambrick at pleiadesreviews@gmail.com. Reviews should be submitted exclusively by the reviewers themselves (not by the authors of the work being reviewed). We encourage experimental reviews—reviews that borrow from creative nonfiction, adopt a unique form, compare something new to something old, etc.—and are very interested in new interpretations of what a book review is and can look like.  Note: Pleiades book reviews are 800-1200 words.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Pleiades DOES accept simultaneous submissions, but we ask that you notify us immediately if a piece is accepted elsewhere. *If you need to withdraw your work from consideration, please email the appropriate genre editor with the subject line “Withdrawal.” Please ONLY email through the links provided above.

• To have a book considered for review, send a review copy to: Pleiades Book Review • Dept of English, Martin 336 • University of Central Missouri • Warrensburg, MO 64093. Please note: not all books received will be reviewed, though we do review 40+ books in each year.