PFN – Young Ravens Literary Review Seeks Submissions on “Exploring and Celebrating Womanhood”

Womanhood is a complex experience that involves more than motherhood or traditional expressions of femininity. From Virginia Woolf’s “a room of her own” to Maya Angelou’s “I’m a woman/ Phenomenally./ Phenomenal woman,/ That’s me,” women have claimed their voices unapologetically as writers and creators.

But there is still not enough of women’s voices and perspectives in the world. In Issue 17 of Young Ravens, we are exploring womanhood in all forms as woven into our lives, histories, fairy tales, and myths. We are looking to explore the full range of women’s experiences, as creators, historical figures, the Divine Feminine, and beyond.

We are inspired by a statue of the Egyptian priestess Tagerem, who was seen as the wife of the god Re. In a version of Tagerem that exists at the Met, she is bisected at her center. She was thought to display the ideal female form, but we do not see her face; we only know half of her story. During the Late Period of Egyptian history, women gained more opportunities “to record elements of their own biographies on stelae and statues” (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

What are the stories of women that are missing? Whose voices and perspectives need to be expressed today, carved on monuments and chalked across busy streets? Ideas we would love to see you explore include:

—Woman as a free and variable being: human.
—Woman as seared into ink and tale, from Eve to Cinderella. Can you trace their faces in your own, or the other women in your lives?
—Do you remember the day when you realized that your mother had another name before “mom,” and wondered at the mystery of her?
—Woman as God. What is the feminine divine, and how can it be recovered or honored?
—Woman as World. How does the natural world reflect the many facets of femininity?
—Woman within. Share those moments that have broken and remade you again and again.
—Women among us. Their stories shine and fall into shadow alongside your own—who are they?

We accept fiction, nonfiction, and poetry of all flavors, from free verse to found.  We welcome voices across the gender spectrum, including LGBTQIA+ creators.

Submissions will be accepted until December 13th, 2022. Please check out our submission guidelines for further information.