Call for Pitches: Geez 35, The Merits of Failure
Broken Step Credit: Bridget Coila (see link below)
Deadline for pitches: April 14, 2014
The next issue of Geez explores weakness and the merits of failure. Maybe it’s okay to be ordinary, small or even dull.
Meek good?
E.F. Schumacher said “small is beautiful”; Jesus said “the meek shall inherit the earth”; Dorothy Day said, “I realize how good God is to me to send me discouragements, failures, antagonisms.”
In an age of bigger is better, weakness is despised. We are too quick to praise the triumphs of the powerful. Can modesty regain appeal? Perhaps the way of insecurity is the path of hope.
We need a constructive alternative to the colonizer’s need to dominate. And let’s explore how weakness means different things for those with privilege and those who are oppressed.
Counterintuitive
In the book The Queer Art of Failure, author Judith (also known as Jack) Halberstam argues “failure can be productive, a way of critiquing capitalism and heteronormativity” (Wikipedia); it can be a counterintuitive form of resistance.
This resonates with the crucial-but-neglected Christian paradox, “The last will be first and the first will be last.”
Dear writers, help readers understand these mysteries.
What does failure mean when faced with injustice? What does weakness look like in a culture that celebrates sculpted biceps and auto-locking doors? Show us how insignificance holds promise.
Deadline for pitches is April 14, 2014.
Regular advice for writers
In a great pitch, you describe the story, explain how it’s a perfect fit for Geez, list the sources you’ll consult, and state why you’re the best person to write it.
Submissions
1. Longer non-fiction pieces, length: 700 words or 1400 words
We’re looking for creative nonfiction essays, investigative articles or research-based pieces on the topic above. While a reference to your personal experience is welcome, readers need wisdom from other sources as well (interviews, books, articles, theologians, social-justice activists, academics and moms and dads). Pitches should be one page, touch on the wider context of your topic and name at least one other source you will be consulting. Here’s a request: Please think of yourself as a Geez contributing editor. Ask yourself, What would readers who are social-justice oriented and at the fringes of faith want to read on this topic? If your pitch is accepted you’ll usually have 2 or 3 weeks to complete the piece.
2. Flash non-fiction, length: 50-350 words
These are short, personal experiences or insights. Your piece should capture a moment that illuminates a larger issue or convey a feeling familiar to us all. This is a chance to bring hope, insight, emotion and connection to readers. Think of it as a snapshot with words.
3. Photos
Consider the topic above and send original photographs (i.e. you took the photo) that provoke or pacify, animate or incite. And, if you know of a photographer who can deliver an awesome photo essay and is willing to get big play in a premium little magazine for a modest honorarium, please pass this pitch along.
Tips for pitches
The Geez project is a discussion among people of faith seeking social justice, and we mean this in broad terms. Hence we seek to include people who’ve left the church, consider themselves spiritual-but-not-religious, identify as secular humanists, or even, gasp!, atheists. Our readers and writers express this concern for social justice through art, activism, contemplation, and a more-grounded, interconnected approach to living.
Additional info
Before pitching, please read our guidelines for writers here.
The most up-to-date information on upcoming issues is available here .
Ideally we would like to respond personally to every piece of correspondence we receive. But given the number of submissions we receive – and having tried to respond to all – we realize it is just not possible. If you do not hear back from us within six weeks assume that we were unable to use your submission.
Deadline for pitches: April 14, 2014
Send pitches, manuscripts and images to
Geez Editor, Aiden Enns
email: stories [at] geezmagazine [dot] org
mail: Geez Magazine
400 Edmonton Street
Winnipeg MB R3B 2M2
CANADA
[Photo credit: Broken Step by Bridget Coila]
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