Be Wary Citizens!
Submissions will be open from January 24 to March 20.
The theme for this issue is Debts. To what are we beholden? Of course mortgages, student loans, credit cards and car payments. And with them the fraud and inherent large-scale crises that extract from and shape generations in unique ways. But also our loved ones and colleagues, the earth and the seasons, inventions and collectives, and ancestors as well as strangers. What do we owe, and to who or what is it owed?
Send us your indebted poems, stories and essays. You may submit up to three poems, or one piece of short prose (fiction or nonfiction) of up to 3500 words; please also include a cover letter that briefly explains how you see your work connecting to the theme. Note: work submitted without this information may be withdrawn.
More about Ninth Letter, again, using their words is probably the best:
Ninth Letter is a collaborative arts and literary project produced by the Creative Writing Program and School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Edited and designed by faculty and students as part of the core curricula of both programs, the journal's mission is to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design.
Work published in Ninth Letter has been selected for many awards anthologies such as Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories, Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Best Creative Nonfiction, Best New Fantasy, Best New Poets, Best of the Net, and New Stories from the Midwest. The journal has also received many national and international awards for graphic design, and has been featured in the design awards annuals of both STEP Inside Design and HOW Magazine. In 2005 Ninth Letter was named Best New Literary Journal by the Council of Learned Journals, an affiliate of the Modern Language Association.
To get an even better idea of what they're actually looking for with a theme I suggest checking out their last themed web issue: Borderless.
Have anything that you think may fit the theme?
Here is a link to their submittable page
