Deadline: 16 May 2011
DIASPORA DIALOGUES ISSUES 2011 OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Looking for emerging writers of short stories, poetry and creative nonfiction in the GTA.
Diaspora Dialogues invites submissions to its annual publishing/mentoring program from emerging GTA writers of short stories or creative non-fiction less than 3,000 words in length; or up to 5 poems, with each poem being no more than 75 lines. (See below for definition of “emerging.”) Applicants are welcome to enter more than one category, but no more than one submission per category, please. (Please note: Our mentoring program for emerging playwrights will be changing this year. As a result, a separate call for plays will be released shortly.)
Diaspora Dialogues is committed to supporting a literature of Toronto that is as diverse as the city itself. Writers are encouraged to keep this mandate in mind, but addressing this theme directly is not essential in the submission. The setting of the works must be, at least in part, the greater Toronto region. First and second-generation immigrants and First Nations writers are especially welcome.
Through an adjudicated process, approximately 15 writers will be chosen and each assigned (free of charge) to an established writer in a mentoring capacity to gain feedback on their work. The writers will each be given an opportunity to read their work in Diaspora Dialogues’ popular multi-disciplinary performance series, which takes place across the city throughout the year in partnership with venues like Luminato, The Word on the Street, Nuit Blanche, Harbourfront, Toronto Public Library and others.
Writers may choose to submit the finished pieces to be considered for publication in TOK: Writing the New Toronto, the annual Diaspora Dialogues anthology available in bookstores across the country.
Diaspora Dialogues supports the creation and presentation of new stories, poetry and drama that reflect the complexity of the city through the eyes of its richly diverse writers. Please see www.diasporadialogues.com for further details about us.
Submission Guidelines
· The greater Toronto region must exist in each story or poem in some way. This can mean using the city as a physical setting. It can mean exploring what the city means to you in a psychological or metaphorical way. It can mean writing about a person, issue or geographic location that is Toronto-specific. The definition is broad, but Toronto must be somehow present in the work.
· The work must be original and not previously published or produced.
· Submissions must be in English.
· Fiction or creative nonfiction must be 3,000 words or less.
· Up to 5 poems may be submitted, with each poem being no more than 75 lines.
· Only one submission per category, but you may submit to more than one category. (Example: You cannot submit two short stories, but you can submit a short story and a poem.) Play submissions are considered separately; please contact us to receive the specific submission guidelines.
· Submissions must include a short biography in paragraph form.
· The writing sample must be free of any identifying marks (no name or contact information) as applications are read blind by the jury. Please do not staple or bind in any way as the submissions will be photocopied. A completed submission form must be included.
· Submissions will not be accepted electronically or by fax.
· If you would like your submission returned, please include a self-addressed envelope with correct postage.
· Commentary/feedback is not available on submissions.
Eligibility
· Writers must not have been previously published in a full-length manuscript of their own (although appearances in magazines and/or anthologies are acceptable).
· You must not have participated in the Diaspora Dialogues mentorship program within the last 2 years.
· You must be living in the greater Toronto region, which includes York, Halton, Peel and Durham.
We welcome your submission! Deadline is May 16, 2011. Submissions will not be accepted after the deadline. Decisions will be made in June 2011.
Please mail or drop off submissions to:
Diaspora Dialogues
170 Bloor Street West, Suite 804
Toronto, ON
M5S 1T9
Questions? Contact Natalie Kertes at natalie@diasporadialogues.com or 416-944-1101, ext 250.