Non-fiction essays wanted for an anthology on migration, survival and new beginnings | $800+ per contributor

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: SOMEWHERE WE ARE HUMAN

Deadline: 5 December 2020

Somewhere We Are Human: An Anthology on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings

Edited by acclaimed poet and author of Nostalgia & Borders, Sonia Guiñansaca, and award winning author of The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande. We are seeking bold personal non-fiction essays and poems from migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people with experience in the United States. We are especially interested in essays and poems from those in the midwest and Border towns. We are centering and giving priority to essays and poems from Indigenous migrants, Black migrants, Asian Pacific Islanders, and Arab communities.

During this time of political unrest, how do we shift the nation’s collective imagination about migrants towards one rooted in humanity and justice? What stories about ourselves and communities need to be told during these times of border militarization, mass detention, and draconian anti-immigrant legislation?

Deadline: Saturday, December 5, 2020 11 p.m. PST.

The anthology will be published by HarperCollins in English and Spanish. Contributors will be compensated a min. of $800.

THEMES AND GUIDING QUESTIONS

We are seeking bold personal essays, and poems from migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and those deported from across the United States. These are just guiding questions and themes. We understand the topic of migration is broad so we are looking for pieces that touch upon these but not limited to these. There is no monolithic migrant story, we want to hear YOUR STORY, and YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Life before migration

We believe that we existed before the migration. That we had childhoods, and memories of our loved ones and a place we may have called “home”. Tell us those stories. What are stories before migration that you wished were written about.

Migration is complicated, nuanced, layered, and intersectional.

We believe that our migration story is complicated, nuanced, layered, and intersectional. Scholars and politicians skip over the hard decision and journey of migrating or that many of us were displaced from our home country because of climate change, political turmoil, war, economic inequity-leaving us with no other choice but to “migrate”. Mainstream stories often leave out how some of our family members are detained in the process of coming to the U.S. They fast forward to us as “hard workers” and “taxpayers” or “illegals”/ “criminals” and take away our childhoods, teenage years, and coming of age moments. Tell us those stories of our growing up in the United States. As a teenager what was it like to grow up in a mixed status family? What was dating like? If you are queer, how did you understand your queerness in relationship to your migration? What was it like before DACA? What are some stories of growing up undocumented that you wished you could have read? If you came to the U.S later on (after your formative years), what did you learn about yourself? What did you wish people knew about growing up in the South? Tell us these stories. Stories that disrupt the mainstream tokenizing, stories outside the “good” vs “bad immigrant”. Essays and poems that decenter whiteness, and assimilation.

Envisioning new futures

We believe that our migrant communities deserve justice and a world without borders and detention centers. We believe that joy, healing, and freedom of expression is crucial to our existence. We want to read poems and essays touching on this. We want to read about where you are now in life? Tell us about the world you envision. What are some things you have reflected on about your migrant story? What are you un-learning? What is some advice and words you wished you were given about being migrant when you were younger? What are the messages you want recently “arrived” migrants to hear? What do you want to tell yourself 20 years from now? For artists, how has your art played a role in your healing and growth?

Additional considerations

We are not looking for scholarly/academic papers. We will not consider submissions by non-migrant people. We are looking for contributors that are undocumented or formerly undocumented.

Essays and poems should primarily be written in English.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Submissions: Via the webform

Website: https://www.migrantanthology.com