Events

Submission window: July 1st - August 20th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Astrobiology, alien life, life detection and its social impacts Note: There are only two open slots so competition will be rough! What are we looking for? What would life be like if it evolved in a cold ocean beneath an impenetrable shell of ice? Or on a world obscured by haze, with no view of the universe beyond? Is there a common template for life, or can we expect to find preciously fragile silicon creatures drifting in seas of liquid nitrogen? How would finding alien life change human societies on Earth? Life Beyond Us explores worlds beyond—and within—ours, with the aim to publish brilliant SF and promote science understanding and critical thinking. The book is connected by the theme of astrobiology: searching for life wherever it might arise in the universe. We’re looking for original short stories exploring the unknown: life forms we’re not familiar with on Earth (from extreme environments, to those right beneath our noses) and beyond our planet; strange life’s discovery, peculiarities, and the ethical questions arising from these. Alien life does not have to feature there; consider exploring the implications of finding a potentially life-bearing environment in space, trying to answer a burning question about habitability, or exploring the far past or future of life in the universe. If alien life does appear—microbial to huge, ‘stupid’ to ‘intelligent,’ perceptions similar to ours or very different—the perspective doesn’t have to be human. We love a well-written brainy piece as well as a clever space adventure, experimental as well as classic styles, action-focused pieces or deep character dives. We welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds, life stages, nationalities, and phases of their career, and we encourage submissions by underrepresented communities. We certainly welcome translations. Hard sells...

Deadline: August 20th, 2021 Payment: $200 and a contributor's copy (as noted by their social media, not their call.) Theme: medieval grimoires, collections of ancient and/or obscure spells, alchemy, symbols, and all things odd and gnostic Our latest anthology series is inspired by medieval grimoires, collections of ancient and/or obscure spells, alchemy, symbols, and all things odd and gnostic. We divide the book into thematic chapters based around the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air, with a fifth “ether” thrown in to catch the truly undefinable. Thus, although the elemental structure of the book should not determine the story, preference will be given to submissions that best fit and reflect the alchemical, elemental theme of the collection. For more specifics, take a look at the structure and content of our first grimoire anthology, Birthing Monsters, published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Margaret Garner Links/Resources: http://library.cincymuseum.org/aag/bio/garner.html https://www.amazon.com/Speaks-Margaret-Garner-Mark-Reinhardt-ebook/dp/B005MX7DS2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=margaret+garner&qid=1622861440&sr=8-3 https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/876 https://www.amazon.com/Gendered-Resistance-Slavery-Margaret-Studies/dp/0252079426/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=margaret+garner&qid=1622861440&sr=8-4 https://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/Margaret-Garner.aspx Write-Up: Human beings comprise earth’s only death cult. Since the beginning of recorded history, we have regarded our dead with love, reverence, fear, hatred, sorrow, awe. We have performed elaborate burial rights and sacred rituals. Despite the profound silence of the corpse, we seek to speak with the dead, see them, engage with them through mysticism and supernatural belief. We also hope, not for the finite decay of those which we love, but for its opposite: that they live on after death, and that we will, too. In the fatal knowledge of our own certain demise begins the very human quest to not simply prolong our earthly lives as long as possible, but to extend our existence into some as yet still imagined eternity. In Firbolg Publishing’s second grimoire collection, we bring together an eclectic mix of folklore, literature, anecdotes, artwork, letters and historical documents, and bizarre facts and...