Deadline: June 18, 2022
Temperatures are rising. Ice caps are melting. Storms are becoming more violent. Fires burn out of control. This is the world in which we currently find ourselves.
We want to hear how you are adapting to a world in a climate shift. For our 5th volume of SHIFT, send us your poetry, prose, and plays about how climate change is impacting your world.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
General Guidelines: You are encouraged to submit your work to our electronic submission system. Digital submissions must be in .doc, .docx, or pdf formats.
Formatting your manuscript: We prefer that all manuscripts be in 12-point type in any of the standard fonts (Times New Roman, Cambria, Calibri, etc.). Number pages sequentially with page numbers positioned at the bottom center of the page and keep margins at 1”. Submissions of fiction and creative non-fiction should be double-spaced. Poetry may be single-spaced. Plays should follow standard formatting. Include a cover page with the title of the piece and author’s contact information (name, email address, address, and telephone number).
Simultaneous submissions: MTSU Write wants every writer to have the greatest possible chance at acceptance. Therefore, we accept multiple submissions from one writer. If you are writing in a single genre, we cap submissions of poetry and flash fiction at four, while short fiction, creative non-fiction, and plays are capped at two. However, if short story and essay pieces are under 3,000 words, we will allow a third submission. If you plan on submitting multiple genres, the cap for submissions is three.
Submission period: SHIFT will accept submissions from February 18, 2022 until June 18, 2022
Submission fees: MTSU Write is a non-profit organization. We do not charge a fee for submissions. Our objective is to simply encourage literary excellence and creativity.
WORD COUNT GUIDELINES
Fiction and Short Story: Flash fiction pieces should be approximately 400-1,000 words. Short story submissions may not exceed 5,000 words. We accept any genre from literary fiction to sci-fi. Double-space the text of the manuscript.
Creative Non-fiction: Submissions of creative non-fiction should not exceed 5,000 words. We accept personal essays, essays on writing technique and process, memoir excerpts, travel writing, journalistic essays, etc.
Poetry: Poetry submissions may be up to four pages in length and writers may submit up to four pieces of poetry. We accept poetry of all forms and genres, but no translations.
Plays: Keep play submissions to 10 minute or one-act forms. Follow the standard stage-play format when submitting. Here’s a helpful link for your reference:
https://ptfaculty.gordonstate.edu/lking/CPF_play_formatting2.pdf
For more information about our program, visit www.mtsu.edu/write
For more information about SHIFT and to see past issues, visit www.shift-write.com