PFN – PRISM international Seeking Submissions on the Theme: Swan Song

‘I am writing only for my shadow, which is now stretched against the wall in the light of the lamp. I must make myself known to him.’

— Sadegh Hedayat, “The Blind Owl”

It is said that the swan sings only one beguiling song throughout the course of its life, releasing this song at the moment of its death. This is, of course, untrue, but it begs the question: what would your final gesture be?

When faced with an ending, what expression must spill forth? A swan song is a farewell, a declaration, a last sounding breath after a long silence. We invite you to share these final acts of resistance, joy, affirmation, confession, celebration, or consumption. Consider whether you will share a song of fond remembrance or one of sorrow. Will it be bittersweet or might it take another form entirely? Perhaps your swan song will reflect on the past, or perhaps it will look forward into the unknown. How will you make yourself known to your shadow? What needs to be said?

Share these swan songs with us, dedicate them to a particular someone, or perform them for yourself alone. Send us your final gestures in prose, poetry, or hybrid forms. Make them lasting or fleeting.

Examine your relationship with endings of all kinds: in love, life, or mortality, through migration or change. What other endings might compel you to speak? Experiment with musicality in your words; imagine the sound of your final gesture, whether it be a cry, wail, lullaby, or whisper; an aria, symphony, or ode. Take the form in any direction that finality inspires in you. We encourage submissions that refuse to go quietly.

Reply times range between six to twelve months, and we may not be able to respond to emails regarding the status of a submission.

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Submissions must be made through Submittable. We do not accept submissions via email or mail, except from incarcerated writers. For all other submitters, we charge a $3.00 reading fee per submission. Writers for whom the $3.00 fee is prohibitive are welcome to submit using the Inclusive Access option on Submittable.

Submissions should be typed, double-spaced, and paginated. Please specify the genre of your submission in your cover letter. All submissions should be set in Times New Roman, 12-point font.

Include in your cover letter your full contact information (including your email address) and a bio of 50 words or fewer that makes reference to where you live.

We accept simultaneous submissions, and we ask that you let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere, OR withdraw it from our Submittable. We purchase first North American serial rights and pay $40 per printed page for prose and $45 per printed page for poetry. Contributors also receive two copies of the issue in which their work appears.

We encourage submissions from Indigenous writers, writers of colour, writers with disabilities, LGBTQQIP2SAA+ writers, and writers from other intersectional and marginalized groups, including low-income earners. If you identify as one or more of the above and would like to let us know, please mention it in your cover letter.

PROSE GUIDELINES

• We accept fiction, creative non-fiction, comics, hybrid works, and literary essays. We do not publish rhetorical, academic, or strictly journalistic non-fiction.
• Our preferred length for submissions is 4,000 words or less. We have a limited page count and aim to feature a variety of voices.
• Submit only one piece at a time, unless you are submitting flash fiction or non-fiction (under 1,000 words), in which case you may submit up to three pieces in a single document. Please wait to hear back before submitting again.

Click here to submit prose.

If you have any questions about these guidelines or a piece you’ve already submitted, please email Sierra Louie at prism.prose@ubc.ca.

POETRY GUIDELINES

• Submit up to four poems, to a maximum of six pages. Do NOT submit six one-page poems.
• We welcome cross-genre and interdisciplinary poetry and poetics.
• In your cover letter, please specify the number of poems you are submitting and list the titles of the poems.
• Poetry submissions should be typed and single-spaced. If you would like to submit poems with alternate spacing, please mention it in your cover letter and submit a PDF instead of a Word document.

Click here to submit poetry. 

If you have any questions about these guidelines or a piece you’ve already submitted, please email Ayda Niknami at prism.poetry@ubc.ca.