Call for pitches: The Body Issue
Hi, I’m thrilled to announce that Miriam Meinders will be the guest Features Editor for Geez 18. See her call for pitches below. Also note the call for submissions for other sections of the magazine. – Aiden Enns, editor
Call for pitches: The Body Issue
We all have a body. It is home to our self, the amazing site of our sensations, a piece of the material world which we alone inhabit. But if the body is uniquely ours, it is also subject to forces beyond our control, be they biological and physical – birth, growth, illness, accidents, death, and decay – or political, geographic, economic, and technological.
This issue seeks to both to honour the body in all its pleasures, its limitations, and its specificity, and to think about these questions: How do we achieve greater freedom and well-being for all bodies? What bodily practices can we use (have been used) to interact with, rebel against, subvert or revolutionize those wider forces that affect us right where we live – in our bodies? Is it possible to pay attention to the individual body but also to think of ourselves as part of a larger collective body in order to make the changes we want to see in the world?
We are accepting two kinds of submissions:
1. Creative nonfiction essay, investigative or research article. Length: 750 or 1500 words
Topics: Expand on one of the approaches listed below, using some sources (research or other people) besides your own experience. Or, suggest a topic of your own. Pitches should be one page, touch on the wider context of your topic, and name at least one other source you will be consulting.
Deadline for pitches: February 24
2. Flash nonfiction (and flash fiction). Length: 50-500 words
Topic: How do you experience your body? (See suggestions below.)
Bonus postcard option: Flash nonfiction and fiction submissions (including visual artwork, or combinations of words and visuals) sent on postcards will be considered for reproduction as sent.
Deadline for completed piece: March 15
Ways to approach this issue:
Go tactile: talk about the five senses or name a sixth (pain, balance, proprioception, or…) and say how it works.
Go emotional: what do your feelings feel like?
Go micro: ride a red blood cell through a vein.
Go macro: has your body been marked (by race, disability, size, gender, poverty or what-have-you) as part of a larger population that needs surveillance and control?
Go structural: does the standard airplane seat or theme park ride fit you?
Go messy: our bodies shit, piss, sweat, come, breastfeed, bleed, and fart.
Go tech-y: is your ipod or your wheelchair an extension of your body?
Go feral: express your animal body.
Go virtual: do you play a Wii or come alive in Second Life?
Go religious: how does being Christian or Muslim or pagan relate to enjoying your body?
Go West Coast: how do you cultivate your mind-spirit connection?
Go skin-deep: what are your beauty rituals?
Go analytical: how does pop culture determine what you see in the mirror?
Go end-of-life: how do you want to be buried?
Go out on a limb: why do you love smoking?
Go Olympic: celebrate your sport.
Go funny: explore the ridiculous, the ungainly, the bawdy about your body.
Send pitches to
Miriam Meinders
Geez 18 Features Editor
email: stories [at] geezmagazine {dot} org
mail: see the address below
We also invite pitches for departments:
A good way to start writing for Geez magazine is with a piece in one of our four departments. Send original stories (50-500 words) or ideas for any of these:
News
Geez looks for under-reported stories on topics such as workers’ rights, nature, Aboriginal affairs, social services, education, health care, foreign policy, militarism and peacemaking, race/racism, youth, media, science, queer issues, feminism. In most cases, but not all, there will be a connection — direct or implied — to a gospel of social justice. This could include the justice/environmental/political work of any religious group. Or the story could point to neglect or misconduct done by churches and others.
Culturosities
This is a soft news, arts-and-culture section, with agenda similar to what’s described above under News. Here we highlight fun, disturbing, creative, inspiring things that would not otherwise fit as news. It does not have to relate to the theme of the issue, but it would be good if one or two elements did. An emphasis on public art and creative activism is prime. When making decisions, we refer to phrases such as “holy mischief in an age of fast faith,” and “for people on the fringes of faith.” Length: 50-500 words
Experiments
In this section we throw the spotlight on the actors and activists in the Geez community of readers. Look for personal stories of people putting words into action. Grand experiments are welcome (I bought nothing for a year), but a well-told, mini-experiment is welcome as well (I stopped to help a homeless woman crush her pop tins). There does not have to be an overt reference to faith, although that is welcome. Length: 50-500 words
Reviews
In this section we highlight movies, books, websites, magazines, zines or other cultural products that connect somehow to the “Geez agenda” (see topics mentioned under News above). Explain what cultural event or product makes you gag, wince, rejoice or exclaim. Length: 50-500 words
Tips for pitches
The Geez project is a discussion among people of faith seeking social justice. Our readers and writers express this through art, activism (that is, an creative critique of those in power and the structures that keep them there, or the promotion of alternative practices that subvert them), contemplation and a “more-grounded, inter-connected” approach to living.
Keep pitches brief, write the way you speak, tell us why your idea or story is important, indicate sources you plan to use, and say something about why you are qualified to write this piece. If you already have a completed manuscript, poem, photo or design, feel free to submit it as well. For more, see the previews of past issues on our website as well as the guidelines for writers: submission guidelines.
Unfortunately we are not able to respond to every pitch. If you do not hear from us within six weeks of the deadline, assume we were not able to use your idea or article.
Send emails to: stories [at] geezmagazine {dot} org
Looking ahead
We welcome pitches, especially ambitious/whacky/quirky ones for upcoming issues.
Geez 19 Explore the wild. Have we become tame, domesticated, broken-spirited, docile; are we heading for ruin? One response to the ills of civilization is to go feral. Learn from the animals and our innate selves. Isn’t that the ultimate in eco-friendliness. What wisdom is missing from our rational lives? Is this the pro-locusts and honey issue? You tell us.
Geez 20 Techno-obsessive. At what point does technology take over, or has it already? Is virtual reality virtuous or pernicious? The twittering world of 140-character communication: has this penchant for brevity and speed cost us our lives?
Geez 21, 22, 23… we’re collecting info on colonialism, policing, spectacle /spectators, femininity, suffering.
Send emails to: stories [at] geezmagazine {dot} org
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