PFN – Call for Submissions to Parcham Online. Theme: Childhood and Children

Issue Theme: Childhood and Children

When Khaled Hosseini, in The Kite Runner, wrote, “There are so many children in Afghanistan, but no childhood.,” he was alluding to a phenomenon and truism in every war-torn country. Women and children have, as history is witness, borne the brunt of nations locked in crisis and conflict. But for the April Issue of Parcham, we aim to look into the various manifestations associated with children and the entire process of growing up. We don’t want to restrict this Issue only to writings about children trapped in conflict zones. Rather, we look forward to receiving submissions on the following themes

i)       The entire journey of growing up

ii)      As parents (not necessarily biological or adoptive) watching children grow up.

iii)     As adults reminiscing and going back to your own childhood.

iv)     From the point of view of a young pair of eyes waiting to take on the world.

v)      Childhood and trauma

vi)     Children and the world of fantasy

vii)    Childhood, food and music

viii)    Children as travellers.

The Last Date for submission for the April 2024 Issue is April 10th 2024.

We are looking for POEMS/ SHORT STORIES (Originally in English or in Translation), Non-Fiction/ Personal Essays) that deal with children, being a child and the journey of growing up, watching the days of childhood from an adult’s perspective and but not restricted to the sub-themes listed above. Please send in a maximum of 3 poems for the poetry section. The Non-Fiction submission and Personal Essays should be no more than 2000 words. To the authors of the original short fiction and translators of short stories we request you choose/write stories that highlight the theme of the issue.

Poetry: Please send in your previously unpublished poems (not more than 3) in a single MS Word document at parchamonline@gmail.com with the subject line Poetry Submission. Please ensure your name is on every submission attachment you send in for clarities sake.

For Fiction/ Short Stories: Please keep in mind that short stories should be not more than 4,000 words and should address the theme that this issue will showcase. Send in the short story to parchamonline@gmail.com with the subject line Short Story Submission.

For Editorials/ Non-Fiction/ Opinion Pieces/ Personal Essays: Please ensure that your submissions are free from unparliamentary language or religious or cultural bigotry. The editors have complete authority to reject a piece if they feel it is not upholding the spirit of the magazine. Submissions should adhere to the theme of this issue and should not be more than 2000 words. Please send in with the subject line Non-Fiction/ Personal Essays to parchamonline@gmail.com.

ALL SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SHORT BIO AND A RECENT PICTURE OF THE CONTRIBUTOR. Please ensure all submissions are in Word (for written) or JPG (visual) (300 DPI minimum resolution/print quality).https://parchamonline.in/2024/02/29/call-for-submissions-april-2024-issue/