Jack Walker Press seeks artful first-person essays up to 4000 words for an anthology that explores the quest for inclusiveness and the effects of the creation of “the other.”
Can individuals who come together with shared histories and culture celebrate that richness without fostering alienation? What happens to the other? How do we move away from racism, classism, and otherness? If God is love, why does religion often construct an other? How does society foster separation? How do we reach across the divide and what can happen when we do? To be published as print and ebook by Jack Walker Press (the XYZs anthology series) and will be available for distribution by Ingram. Seeking first North American serial rights. Reprints considered.
Profits to be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center: “The SPLC is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.”
We seek honesty, knowing that this is a touchy subject. It’s difficult to explore issues of gender, sexuality, age, race, political party, disability, and more without offending—so we often stay silent. Let’s try to understand otherness and tell our stories. We may risk offending, yet seek to expand love and tolerance. We seek stories of personal experience and inner explorations: hopefully essays will have at least two threads (what happened/first-person exploration for meaning). Any quotations or academic inclusions (not necessary) should include endnotes for fact checking. Anger is okay: Hate not okay. Make us laugh, cry, and think. Help us to love rather than judge. It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers. Small insights that honor the complexity of truth are preferred to sermons with all the answers.
All Submissions accepted through the XYZs Green Submissions page. Submissions accepted thought Dec. 31, 2017.
The Editoral Boardmembers for this volume include:
Marian Fredal
Marian Fredal has been active as a White anti-racist activist for 15 years. She has taught classes for white people working to eliminate racism. She has been active with United to End Racism since 2001, including leading workshops and support groups for white people at the White privilege Conference. She completed a PhD on the work to end racism in the Catholic Church, and is on the Anti-Racism Team of Call To Action, a national Catholic reform organization. She writes personal essays about race.
Amy Lou Jenkins
Amy Lou Jenkins is an award-inning writer, speaker, and educator from Wisconsin and author of Every Natural Fact; Five Seasons of Open-Air Parenting. Her writing has been honored by the Jade Ring Award, X.J. Kennedy Award for Nonfiction, Florida Review Editor Award in Creative Nonfiction, Flint Hills Review Nonfiction Award, and Literal Latté Annual Essay Award. She is the recipient of a Mesa Refuge Writing Fellowship and has taught writing at Carroll University, MATC, Alverno Telisis Institute, and in many writing workshops, conferences, and classes. Every Natural Fact Five Seasons of Open-Air Parenting is the winner presented Ellis / Henderson Award for Outdoor Writing, the Gold Medal winner of the Living Now Outdoor Activities Award, A USA Best Book and many more honors. .
Her work has appeared in multiple magazines, newspapers, and anthologies including Wisconsin Trails, Orion, The Leopold Outlook, Wisconsin Academy Review, Flint Hills Review, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Shepherds Express, Florida Review, Inkpot, Earth Island Journal, Generations, Rosebud, Big Apple Parent, MetroParent, Washington Families, Sport Literate, Chicken Soup, Cup of Comfort books, Women on Writing, Wild with Child and The Maternal is Political and more.
Hello. Since this was posted back in October, I wanted to double check the submission deadline. Is the December 2017 date correct and you’ll be taking submission until then or was that a typo you stopped taking submissions at the end of last year?
-Neil
Yes–we took a while to plan the volume. It will be the second in our series and we look forward to submissions. We look forward to seeing your submission.
Would you consider a story that has been previously published in an anthology? I, not the publisher, own the rights to further publication of my story.
Yes, we do consider reprints if you own the rights. We look forward to seeing your submission. AL
I am interested in making a submission for your Exclusions Anthology and began the Green Submissions sign-up process just now on December 28, but I ran into the following problem. Can you advise me what to do? At the bottom of the sign up page, I clicked on the guidelines link so I could read the guidelines before I agreed to accept them. When I clicked on the link, another Jack Walker press page opened and stated your guidelines would open in another page and indicated a place to click. When I clicked, no new page opened and I was back on the previous page stating that your guidelines would open on another page. Any way out of the loop?
Hi Charlotte, the Green Submission included the announcement that the guidelines will open on another page–even on the page where the guidelines are posted. Sorry, we don’t own the software –nor do we have the budget to redesign our own. Thanks for contacting us. The guidelines are published as follows:
The XYZ’s Anthologies
The XYZ’s Anthologies partner with writers and charitable groups to use personal stories to shift thinking about our world. We work with you to do good. After expenses and stipends, profits will be donated to charity. Rights revert back to the author upon publication and JWP reserves the right to repackage content in digital/audio/online or book form.
Writers will be asked to participate in marketing online and in their local communities. Contributor/review copy will be provided to authors whose work is included and to reviewers who will post a review on Amazon.