PRISM International: Prose and Poetry Submissions

PRISM International invites submissions for its upcoming SPELLS issue 63.1, edited by Ayda Niknami and Sierra Louie.

Consider words as “performative utterances.” They do not just describe, they do things ー they perform actions. How do we bring our words beyond the page? What lives do they lead once they are written? Spoken? What are the consequences of invoking them? Spell is the writing out of letters in sequence to create meaning. It is a short period of time, often marked by the weather or an illness. Spell is an incantation, a set of instructions, a desire expressed through language. What spells are you desperate to speak? To make a reality? Contemplate what spells you may have consciously or unknowingly cast as you look back on experiences and memories. What did your words bring to life? How might readers interact with your words to confront and express their own desires?

We invite you to share these spells with us and to consider what effects the order of your language might elicit. Send us poetry, prose, and hybrid works that contemplate the meaning and impact of “spell” in any or all of its manifestations. If you wish, we invite you to weave in traditions associated with spell, drawing on the dialectic between the literary and the magical. Or leave such traditions behind altogether. Go as wide or as narrow with the definition as you wish. We encourage submissions that play with the ordinary expectations of the form and that bring a heartbeat to it.

In order to ensure all writers have a chance to be published, PRISM international is proud to offer an Inclusive Access category for those who are unable to pay the submission fee. For this category, the $3.00 submission fee is waived.

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Enquiries about submissions should be directed to PRISM international . Please always refer to their website for complete details and information.

Please note, this competition is run by PRISM international , not the Commonwealth Foundation.