call for submissions to the new voices anthologies of poetry and fiction

Attention, new writers: The Department of English and Comparative Literature of the University of the Philippines in Diliman is calling for submissions to New Voices, a two-volume anthology of poetry and fiction by new Filipino authors writing in English. To be published by the UP Press and possibly in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education, these volumes will provide a platform for new writers to gain literary renown, as well as contemporize teaching materials for Philippine literature in English.

Current anthologies of Philippine poetry and fiction are edited and dominated by well-established writers who form the local literary canon. This practice makes breaking through the publishing and literary worlds difficult for newer authors, many of whom have only published individual poems or stories in magazines and journals. The New Voices anthologies seek to draw attention to a new generation of Philippine writers by filling a gap between the authors’ publication of individual poems or stories in periodicals, and the publication of their first book.

New Voices will feature approximately 15 poets and 10 fiction writers. The selection process will begin immediately after the deadline and end by May 2015. Authors of accepted manuscripts will be notified as soon as the selection process is completed.

The submission guidelines are as follows:

1. The call is open to new writers of any age who are Filipino citizens holding permanent residence in the Philippines.
2. A “new writer” is one who has yet to publish a book (sole authorship) in the specific genre for which he or she is submitting a manuscript. A book that comes out before the deadline of submissions for New Voices will disqualify its writer.
3. Each qualified writer may submit only one manuscript file for each genre. For poetry, the submission file should consist of seven to 10 poems, or the equivalent of 10-15 pages in book form. For fiction, the set of submissions should consist of three to five stories, or a total of around 10,000 words, or the equivalent of 15-20 pages in book form.
4. There is no prescribed style or theme for the submission contents, but they should represent the author’s skill and range, and as such may or may not have been previously published. If published, however, provide the bibliographical information.
5. All poems should be pasted in the preferred order, single-spaced, into one document file; the same goes for short story submissions. The prescribed font types are Times New Roman, Garamond, Arial, or Calibri, standard font size 12. Please include a short profile or bionote of no more than 300 words on the last page of the document.
6. Only online submissions will be considered. The document file to be attached should be in .doc, .docx or .rtf, and labeled with the author’s last name and the title of the first poem or story in the submission (e.g. Arcellana THE YELLOW SHAWL.doc). The filename should also be indicated in the e-mail’s subject line.
7. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM, Philippine Standard Time, on April 1, 2015.
8. The editors reserve the right to edit any and all materials accepted for publication.

For inquiries and submissions, contact the editors at newvoicespoetry2015@gmail.com or newvoicesfiction2015@gmail.com. Please specify ‘inquiry’ or ‘submission’ in the subject line.

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