Most events are installed on their deadline date, unless there is a long submission window or unless it's a rolling submission.
P=Poetry, N=Nonfiction, F=Fiction
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PFN – Usawa Literary Review Invites Contributions for its Summer 2025 Issue. Theme: Memories of the Future
Usawa: Call for Submissions – June 2025 Issue
MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE
Isn’t premonition memory of the
future? Did Proust say writers have
a blurred memory of things they do
not know?
- Memory by Priya Sarukkai Chabria, Calling Over Water
Time flows linearly. We move forward and then memories sneak up and take us back or rather, bring to the present what once was. And in dreams instead of falling downwards, the sand in our hourglass may start moving up.
All memory is imagination. All dreams are…well dreams.
Imagining, dreaming, and remembering by their very nature resist censor. Are they acts of resistance then? Then writing in their language must be too.
When we mine your dreams tomorrow what would we find?
Imagining, dreaming, and remembering by their very nature resist censor. Are they acts of resistance then? Then writing in their language must be too.
When we mine your dreams tomorrow what would we find?
There is no submission fee.
Deadline: 25th April 2025
We pay 1000 INR/12 $ for an accepted piece.
General Guidelines
Usawa Contributor Registration: Please fill the form for each submission. All submissions except visual narratives will be made through the form.
Submission Format:
All submissions apart from visual narratives are to be made through the form. Please follow the instructions attached to ensure that your submission reaches us.
Compose your brief (~80 words) bio in the third person at the end of your submission. Please ensure to include your photograph and social media handles.
Payment Policy:
As of December 2023, Usawa has become a paying market.
Submission Limitations:
You may submit up to one entry for each genre during a given submission period.
Although we prefer exclusive submissions, we understand if you choose to make simultaneous submissions. In such cases, please promptly notify us if another publication accepts your piece before our review. To withdraw your submission, kindly contact the sectional editor and the Managing Editor by email.
Please be aware that any work published in Usawa cannot be reprinted in any other publication, whether online or in print, until six months after the initial publishing date. After this period, we request that you send us a formal intimation and credit Usawa wherever the piece is republished by contacting our Managing Editor.
Editing Policy:
We regret to inform you that minor edits cannot be accommodated once an issue has been published. Only in the case of major errors may you contact our Managing Editor for consideration.
We encourage you to peruse our previous issues and review our monthly newsletters to gain insight into our editorial preferences. You may subscribe to our newsletter here
Due to the high volume of submissions and limited staff, we regretfully cannot offer feedback on the pieces that we are unable to run.
Thank you for adhering to our submission guidelines. We eagerly anticipate reviewing your work.
Section Guidelines
Poetry:
Please submit 4-6 poems.
Usawa will be publishing unpublished poems only. However, poems that have been shared on the author’s social media are acceptable.
If you have previously published work that strongly resonates with our theme kindly share the same with our Poetry Editor, Babitha Marina Justin, at babitha@usawa.in stating why you would like the piece to be considered. The body of editors will review it collectively and take a decision accordingly.
Short Fiction:
Submit short fiction of length between 2000-5000 words.
While our primary focus is on literary fiction that explores the depth and complexity of the human experience, we are also open to exceptional works of genre fiction that push boundaries and offer fresh perspectives. Bring us stories with emotional depth, vivid characterization, and inventive storytelling.
Our Editor-in-Chief, Smita Sahay, can be reached at smita@usawa.in for queries.
Nonfiction:
Submit nonfiction of length up to 5000 words.
We are looking for pieces that reflect honesty of the experience, personal or from the point of witness. What are you subverting? Why? Send us well-crafted writings, especially essays, or even hybrid pieces, in a way that we look at the world anew even though the facts remain the same. We’re most excited by not only reading about things little known or talked about, but also by pieces that subvert and surprise.
Our Nonfiction Editor, Smita Sahay, can be reached at smita@usawa.in for queries.