Art as Activism

Calling for writing submissions from fem-aligning Black, Indigenous, and POC creatives…

All Female Menu is accepting essays, flash fiction, short CNF, poetry, and hybrid projects exploring the idea of political protest through writing.

“The poems that stay with me on my bookshelf and in memory are the ones that shake up my understanding of the world. The poems I cling to and teach are the ones that inform and challenge me. Poetry is activism because, line by line, it contains the potential to ask difficult questions, to participate in literary spaces, to push past discomfort, and to build worlds where possibilities drive us. People say they are often moved, held, or taken by poems–and aren’t those actions the basis of activism? Poetry, this way, is a movement."

~~Janice Lobo Sapigao // poetry is activism~~

We are in a moment of simultaneous mourning and celebration, of protest and potential. For some, this allows artistic energies to expand; but for others, it can feel challenging to keep creating when there is so much else to give attention to. While the page may not feel like a place to protest, we believe it is. In this moment of uprisings, how is activism in conversations with your artistic flow? How does justice appear in your work when it is noticeably absent in the world? How is your art an act of preservation, of abolition, of protest, of solace? We want your reflections –– your essays, your thought pieces, your hybrid ideas presented in forms –– exploring the relationship between art, activism, and protest. This political moment is asking us to reimagine our world, and we invite you to do the same with your art – send us your experimental pieces breaking conventions, your non-canonical forms, the things your snobby lit professor would turn away. What have you been creating in the days, weeks, and months that have been defined by political protest? Whatever you’ve been working on, send it to us. We want to see the brilliant work you’ve made through this enmeshing.

Although we are still a young zine with a small budget, we believe writers deserve to be compensated for their work. We can offer each writer $10 via PayPal upon publication. Writers will also receive a complimentary print edition of All Female Menu’s Issue 1 or 3, depending on their preference. 

We do not wish to limit the themes your work explores, but please read our first online issue, “Present Moment,” to have a better understanding of what we have published previously before sending us any work of your own.

We accept submissions of flash fiction and creative nonfiction (up to 1000 words each), poetry, and hybrid works. If you are submitting a piece in a language other than English, we do ask that you provide an English translation for our editors to review. It is your choice whether the translation is published alongside your piece; please indicate your preference in the body of your submission email.

You may submit up to three flash prose pieces and up to five poems per submission cycle. Please submit all your written work as an attachment (docx or PDF). All submissions should be in one document, but please create page breaks between each piece if you are submitting multiple. Please title your document as follows: [Your name]_[Title]_[Genre]. An example is Rebecca Gross_Tetragrammaton_Prose.

Simultaneous submissions are fine by us, but PLEASE let us know ASAP if your piece is accepted elsewhere.

Please use this format for the subject line of your email: [Genre] Submission: [Title of your piece] by [Your full name]. An example subject line is Prose Submission: Tetragrammaton by Rebecca Gross. In the body of your email, please include a brief note saying hello and a brief third-person bio (~50 words) telling us a bit about yourself, as well as any content or trigger warnings needed for your submissions. Please include your pronouns, your twitter handle, and any links to your personal website/blog in your bio.

Submissions are open through November 6th, 2020.

We do not publish work that has already been published elsewhere. Upon acceptance, All Female Menu will acquire First Serial Rights to your work(s). After your piece is published by All Female Menu, the author’s right to publish the piece(s) elsewhere reverts back to the author. Should your piece be published elsewhere after, we kindly request that you credit us with first publishing your work.

***Do not send us racist, sexist, ableist, antisemitic, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic or xenophobic content. Additionally, do not send us work that contains fat shaming, cultural or experiential appropriation, orientalism, or any sort of colonialist exoticization or fetishization (verbiage borrowed from Underblong).

If you send us content related to assault, abuse, violence, mental illness, chronic illness, or anything else that may be triggering, please consider the mental health of our editors and include a content warning in the body of your email, before we read your submission.***