Open Call for Poetry on "Madness"

 

World Poetry Movement-Nepal, in collaboration with RedPanda Books, a publication partner in Kathmandu, is soliciting poems from poets around the world on the theme of madness for a global poetry anthology. It is our pleasure that Society of Nepali Writers in English, Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature, Asian Center for Humanities, 100 Thousand Poets for Change, and Movimiento Poetas del Mundo have also joined us as our poetry partners.  

Why poetry on madness? The earth is our common home. Mountains, rivers, land, and the political and economic system governing this world should have been used for the benefit of all living beings including humankind. But, the reality is scarily different! World political leaders have turned into power mongers. Economic and social systems have been largely manipulated by the capitalists in their cravings for profits. Unstoppable desires for physical development have led to the destruction of natural ecology resulting in depletion of ozone layers, melting of glaciers, and increasing global temperature. The consequence is millions of people are displaced from their homelands for political, social, economic, and/or environmental catastrophes. These catastrophes do not come one and alone but are reinforcing one another at various layers and degrees.

We think that the concept of “madness” can largely connect to these complex phenomena because we are doomed to suffer the present day ‘inhumanity’ due to the power-driven madness of the politicians, profit-driven madness of the capitalists, desire-driven madness of the consumers, and the like. It is relevant to refer to Michael Foucault’s idea that madness as such does not exist as an independent entity. It only exists in relationship to different discourses. Foucault believed that madness can be understood through the study of social processes. For this anthology, we propose “madness” as a creative lens to reflect on diverse issues ranging from capitalism and social justice to democracy and human rights; physical development and climate change to poverty, migration, and refugees; gender, sexuality, and social minorities to several other cross-cutting issues.      

Submission Guidelines

1.   Theme and Format: Poets are invited to submit one to maximum three poems reflecting on any strands of “madness” as explained above. Poems should be typed on a word document in Times New Roman, Font size 12, with single spacing. The poems should be followed by a brief bio in no more than 100 words including her/his nationality and previously published works.

2.   Language: Submissions are accepted only in the English language. Submissions of poems translated into English from any other language are also acceptable. But such submissions should mention the full name of the translator and the source language.  

3.   Originality: We encourage sending unpublished poems. But if you have published poems that you consider very strong to the given theme, you can send them with appropriate credit to the earlier publication. Once you send such poems, we assume that you give us the copyright to republish them. Any copyright issue in such a case will be the sole responsibility of the poet herself/himself.  

4.   Submission Fee: There is NO fee for submission. (WPM-Nepal is a part of a global movement of poets working voluntarily to promote social justice through poetry, and cannot afford to financially remunerate the poets. But we will be happy to send author’s copy to all the poets included in the anthology.)   

5.   Mailing/Postal Address: Please include a full mailing/postal address at the end of your word document so that we can send a copy of the publication to the poets included in the anthology.

6.   Copyright: Copyright of the individual poems shall remain in the author of the respective poems. In the anthology form, the copyright shall be with the editor and/or the publisher of the anthology.

7.   Publication Timeline:

    (i) Submission Deadline: 30^th August 2022; (ii) Selection Notification: Poems selected for the anthology will be notified by the end of October 2022; (iii) Proposed Publication Date: December 2022

8.   Submission Method: Submissions should be sent through email communication as a separate word file attachment to the following address: Keshab Sigdel (Editor), Email: poetrymovement.nepal@gmail.com  

[About the Editor: Keshab teaches poetry at Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University. He is a published poet and is also associated with Society of Nepali Writers in English and World Poetry Movement.]