Call for Submissions for a New Anthology Featuring Oklahoma Writers of Color
Norman, OK March 2013- Mongrel Empire Press, an Eclectic Publishing House specializing in regional and uncommon literary works, is seeking submissions for an upcoming anthology featuring Oklahoma writers of color.
Quraysh Ali Lansana and Dr. Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, in collaboration with Mongrel Empire Press, seek to publish the writing of People of Color born and/or raised in Oklahoma or who have lived in Oklahoma for five or more years. Though the editors prefer writing that speaks to some aspect of life in the Sooner State (politics, history, culture, the land, etc), all topics and genres are welcome. This anthology will be the first to document exclusively the lives of minorities in Oklahoma. We are looking for essays, interviews, short fiction, poetry and personal reflections for publication that explore life in Oklahoma as well as the state’s rich history.
If you know of previously published or historical work that should be included, please contact the editors at okiewritersofcoloranthology@gmail.com.
Born and raised in Enid, OK, anthology editor Quraysh Ali Lansana is author of five poetry books, three textbooks, a children’s book, editor of eight anthologies, and coauthor of a book of pedagogy. Quraysh earned an MFA at the Creative Writing Program at New York University where he was a Departmental Fellow and he served as Director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing from 2002-2011. Quraysh is a member of the faculty of The Red Earth Creative Writing MFA Program at Oklahoma City University.
Co-editor Jeanetta Calhoun Mish was born in Hobart, OK and raised in Wewoka, OK; she completed her Ph.D. in American Literature at the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Her second poetry collection, Work Is Love Made Visible, was awarded the Oklahoma Book Award, the WILLA Award from Women Writing the West, and the Western Heritage Award. Jeanetta is a contributing editor to Oklahoma Today and to Sugar Mule: A Literary Magazine. Mish is also editor of Mongrel Empire Press and the director of The Red Earth MFA Program at Oklahoma City University.
Submission Guidelines:
1. All manuscripts must be typed. For multiple page manuscripts the title of the work and page number must appear on each page.
2. Manuscripts may be e-mailed as an attachment in Microsoft Word or in RTF.
3. All manuscripts must be submitted electronically.
4. A cover letter must be included with your attachment(s) listing the titles of submitted works and contact information. Also, please include acknowledgments if submitting previously published work.
5. All submitted material must include an e-mail address. Submissions without contact information will not be considered.
The deadline for consideration is August 1, 2013.
Please send submissions to:
Oklahoma Writers of Color Anthology
okiewritersofcoloranthology@gmail.com
e-mail general questions only to okiewritersofcoloranthology@gmail.com
The projected date of publication for the Oklahoma people of color anthology is January 2014. the anthology will be available through most online bookstores and at local independent bookstores in Oklahoma. The editors are planning for a series of readings throughout the state where writers whose submissions appear in the book can present their work to the public.
About Mongrel Empire Press
Mongrel Empire Press was established in 2007 with a mission to publish well-written, thoughtfully-considered works across generic and disciplinary boundaries. The Press actively identifies and promotes Oklahoma and regional writers while at the same time making room for outside the region works that, because of their mixed generic, disciplinary, and philosophical approaches, cannot find a home at other presses that have a more narrowly defined mission.
Contact the Press:
Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, Editor
Mongrel Empire Press
mongrel@mongrelempire.org
http://www.mongrelempirepress.org
April Mourning
