Image by Janel Houton
Image by Laurette Folk
Call for Submissions: Mercy for the Displaced
Submissions are now closed. Thank you to all who submitted and are thinking and creating around this important theme. We hope to have submissions processed by the end of February.
The theme for this winter's edition of The Compassion Anthology is "Mercy for the Displaced." A home is a refuge, a place to center ourselves, interact with loved ones; a place to explore our creativity, passions, ideas and feelings. A home brings us stability and certainty and when this is stripped away, we feel utterly vulnerable, exposed to the hostilities of the outside world. For this edition, we seek stories, poems, essays, and art regarding those who have lost the sense of "home," albeit physically or emotionally or both. (key terms: refugees, caravan, California fires, Puerto Rico, hurricanes, Syria, illegal immigrants, family separation, deportation, RAICES, domestic violence). For more information, please see our full submission guidelines below. Submissions will be open from December 15, 2018 to January 31, 2019.
General Submission Guidelines
To submit to the anthology, please observe the guidelines below for your genre. There is no fee to submit to the anthology, however, we welcome donations via our Donate button on the home page. Not all submissions are guaranteed acceptance into the anthology and exhibits.
A maximum of 3 accepted submissions is allowed per artist/writer for an anthology edition, and all authors/artists retain the rights to their work. Simultaneous submissions are allowed and previously published work is preferable, if permission is granted by the original publisher.
Examples of our favorite compassion-themed literature and art are as follows: "Strokes of Compassion," a series by Anne Neilson, and "Sentience" by Dawn Fisher for visual art; "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie and "On Compassion" by Barbara Lazear Ascher for essays; "Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros and "The Bear Came over the Mountain" by Alice Munro for fiction; "Singapore" by Mary Oliver and "Translucence" by Denise Levertov for poetry.
In some cases, substantive editing may be required in an accepted submission; overall, a contributor should expect editorial suggestions and sometimes several rounds of revisions before both editor(s) and contributor consider the work complete and appropriate.
General Visual Art Guidelines
Visual art includes drawings, paintings, photography, sculpture, video and mixed media collage. Images of work must be submitted in jpg form attached to an email with an artist statement in one short paragraph. Please include size, medium, and a bio with contact information in the body of the email as well. Emails must be sent to compassionanthology@gmail.com. Also include the genre in the subject line and indicate in the body of the email if you wish your work to be considered for a particular exhibit (see below for exhibit info).
General Poetry, Fiction, and Essay Guidelines
All poetry, fiction and essays should be typed in 12 point Times New Roman font in a Word document attached to an email and sent to compassionanthology@gmail.com. Please include a short bio in the body of the email and make sure your name and contact information is in the submission file, either in the header or below the title. There is no poetry length requirement for the anthology, however, poems for exhibits must fit one 8 1/2 x 11 page. Submit up to 4 poems in one document. Fiction and Essays should be 1500 words or less. Please include the genre in the subject line of the email.
Collaborative artworks
We encourage the creation of art by artists of different genres. For example, a visual artist might create a compassionate image from a poem and vice versa.
Commit a compassionate act.
There is empirical evidence that the Dalai Lama is correct in saying “individual experiences of compassion radiate outward and increase harmony for all” (read the NY Times article "Compassion Made Easy"). Commit a compassionate act and create a work of art or write a poem, essay, or short story. The compassionate act may be spontaneous and small, such as buying a stranger a cup of coffee, or planned and involved, such as donating your time to a charity.
Exhibits
There is no exhibit at this time.
Submissions are now closed. Thank you to all who submitted and are thinking and creating around this important theme. We hope to have submissions processed by the end of February.
The theme for this winter's edition of The Compassion Anthology is "Mercy for the Displaced." A home is a refuge, a place to center ourselves, interact with loved ones; a place to explore our creativity, passions, ideas and feelings. A home brings us stability and certainty and when this is stripped away, we feel utterly vulnerable, exposed to the hostilities of the outside world. For this edition, we seek stories, poems, essays, and art regarding those who have lost the sense of "home," albeit physically or emotionally or both. (key terms: refugees, caravan, California fires, Puerto Rico, hurricanes, Syria, illegal immigrants, family separation, deportation, RAICES, domestic violence). For more information, please see our full submission guidelines below. Submissions will be open from December 15, 2018 to January 31, 2019.
General Submission Guidelines
To submit to the anthology, please observe the guidelines below for your genre. There is no fee to submit to the anthology, however, we welcome donations via our Donate button on the home page. Not all submissions are guaranteed acceptance into the anthology and exhibits.
A maximum of 3 accepted submissions is allowed per artist/writer for an anthology edition, and all authors/artists retain the rights to their work. Simultaneous submissions are allowed and previously published work is preferable, if permission is granted by the original publisher.
Examples of our favorite compassion-themed literature and art are as follows: "Strokes of Compassion," a series by Anne Neilson, and "Sentience" by Dawn Fisher for visual art; "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie and "On Compassion" by Barbara Lazear Ascher for essays; "Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros and "The Bear Came over the Mountain" by Alice Munro for fiction; "Singapore" by Mary Oliver and "Translucence" by Denise Levertov for poetry.
In some cases, substantive editing may be required in an accepted submission; overall, a contributor should expect editorial suggestions and sometimes several rounds of revisions before both editor(s) and contributor consider the work complete and appropriate.
General Visual Art Guidelines
Visual art includes drawings, paintings, photography, sculpture, video and mixed media collage. Images of work must be submitted in jpg form attached to an email with an artist statement in one short paragraph. Please include size, medium, and a bio with contact information in the body of the email as well. Emails must be sent to compassionanthology@gmail.com. Also include the genre in the subject line and indicate in the body of the email if you wish your work to be considered for a particular exhibit (see below for exhibit info).
General Poetry, Fiction, and Essay Guidelines
All poetry, fiction and essays should be typed in 12 point Times New Roman font in a Word document attached to an email and sent to compassionanthology@gmail.com. Please include a short bio in the body of the email and make sure your name and contact information is in the submission file, either in the header or below the title. There is no poetry length requirement for the anthology, however, poems for exhibits must fit one 8 1/2 x 11 page. Submit up to 4 poems in one document. Fiction and Essays should be 1500 words or less. Please include the genre in the subject line of the email.
Collaborative artworks
We encourage the creation of art by artists of different genres. For example, a visual artist might create a compassionate image from a poem and vice versa.
Commit a compassionate act.
There is empirical evidence that the Dalai Lama is correct in saying “individual experiences of compassion radiate outward and increase harmony for all” (read the NY Times article "Compassion Made Easy"). Commit a compassionate act and create a work of art or write a poem, essay, or short story. The compassionate act may be spontaneous and small, such as buying a stranger a cup of coffee, or planned and involved, such as donating your time to a charity.
Exhibits
There is no exhibit at this time.