Thursday, November 27, 2008

Call for Submissions by Dominican Women Writers

I'm pleased to share this, and hope you will pass it on, too.
__________
Saludos escritoras,

I am writing to you because I have finalized the call for submissions for the anthology of Dominican women writers. I am currently in Santo Domingo on the Fulbright grant I received to conduct this project. As I collect stories from creative writers here, I would also like to ask Dominican women living in the U.S. to submit pieces for consideration. A publishing contract has still not been finalized because of the current financial crisis but an editor is willing to look at the book once it is compiled, so we are moving ahead.


Following is the call for submissions in English and Spanish. Please distribute widely. Forward it to other Dominican women writers you know, or to people you know who may know other Dominican women writers etc. I appreciate all of your help in getting the word out there. I look forward to reading your work.


Erika
www.erikammartinez.com

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Quisqueyanas: Contemporary Writings by Dominican Women
Edited by Erika María Martínez
To be published in the United States in English and in Spanish

Dominican writers are under-represented in literary discourse. And most literary studies of the Caribbean focus primarily on some male writers of the past century such as Jose Martí. There is a similar unfamiliarity of female writers in comparison with male writers of the Dominican Republic, yet Dominican women, at home and abroad, have created a space for literary and artistic production. The body of literature developed by Dominican women depicting the cultural, social and political life of the country, is a testament to the talent of all Dominicans. Quisqueyanas: Contemporary Writings by Dominican Women, an anthology of prose by women in the Dominican Republic, and women of Dominican descent living in the United States, will strengthen the voice of Dominican women in the world of literature.
This project develops at a crucial point in the history of Dominicans and Americans; during the nineties the Dominican-American population grew by two hundred percent, making it the fourth largest Latino community in the United States. With this growth, the community's cultural values were often merged with the larger Latino identity. In order to genuinely associate with our numerous parts, it is essential to reconnect with origin-based artists. Writers give a viewpoint that is informed by history and tied to the Dominican Republic, yet at the same time it is affected by the greater American culture. Through a sampling of various Dominican and Dominican-American women's narratives the literary legacy and unique history of the island will be highlighted in content and style. In addition, it will be evident how the history and the future of the two countries are intertwined. This anthology will be a step in the direction of greater understanding between these two cultures and how each one affects the other as we approach the turn of another decade.
This collection will be unique yet use successful techniques from preceding anthologies. As in Lillian Castillo-Speed's anthology Latina: Women's Voices from the Borderlands the work will include both fiction and nonfiction. Like Edwidge Danticat's anthology The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, the book will have a thematic structure according to the contributions received.
Possible themes include but are not limited to:
Family
Feminism
Exclusion
Femininity
Fertility/Infertility
Maternity
Migrations/Immigration
Racism/Prejudice
Silence
Double lives
Politics
History
Work
Relationships
Infidelity
Machismo

Editor: Erika María Martínez is a Dominican-American writer with an MFA in English and Creative writing from Mills College in Oakland, California. She is currently residing in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic as a Fulbright Fellow. Her work has been featured in Colorlines Magazine, The Womanist, Homelands: Women's Journeys Through Race, Place and Time and in Terror?, an exhibit at the Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco.

Publication: The anthology will be published through an independent press in English and in Spanish to be distributed internationally.


Guidelines: Dominican women living on the island or women of Dominican descent living in the United States are encouraged to tell their stories. Submissions may include fiction, creative nonfiction, personal essays and memoirs. Please only send unpublished work. No simultaneous submissions. Writings submitted will not be returned.


Deadline: January 31, 2009


Length: 3,000-5,000 words


Format: Pieces should be typed, double-spaced and paginated. Please include your mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number and a short bio on the last page.


Submitting: Electronic submissions are preferred. Send work electronically as a Word or Rich Text Format file (with .doc or .rtf extension) to Erika María Martínez at HYPERLINK "mailto:antologiaquisqueyana@gmail.com" Put "Anthology" in the subject line. If e-mail is not possible, mail essay to
Erika Martínez 1-12682
3508 N.W. 114th Ave. Suite A
Doral, FL 33178

Reply: Please allow until June 1 for a response. If you haven't received a response by then, please assume your work was not selected. An effort will be made to contact each writer.

Solicitud de Colaboración
Quisqueyanas: Narradoras Contemporáneas Dominicanas
Editada por Erika María Martínez
Se publicará en los Estados Unidos en Ingles y Español
La literatura dominicana tiene escasa representación en el ámbito internacional, donde los estudios literarios del Caribe se enfocan principalmente en algunos escritores importantes como José Martí. El mismo desconocimiento ocurre cuando se comparan los escritores dominicanos con las escritoras dominicanas. A pesar de esto, la mujer dominicana ha estado envuelta en procesos creativos, tanto en su país como en el extranjero, donde muchas se han radicado en busca de mejores condiciones de vida y espacios para la producción literaria y artística.

Esta presencia de la mujer dominicana pone de manifiesto la capacidad creativa y el talento del pueblo dominicano. Muchas han escrito obras interesantes en las que reflejan la realidad de su cultura y de la vida social y política de esa nación. Quisqueyanas: narradoras contemporáneas dominicanas surge como un proyecto que procura producir una antología de narrativa de escritoras de la República Dominicana y de escritoras de ascendencia dominicana residentes en los Estados Unidos, y que tiene como objetivo dar voz a la mujer dominicana en el quehacer literario.
Durante los noventa, la presencia dominicana en los Estados Unidos experimentó un considerable aumento que la llevó a convertirse en la cuarta comunidad latina emigrante más grande de esta nación. Este crecimiento ha conllevado una mayor presencia de los valores culturales de nuestra comunidad, los cuales se han fusionado en gran parte con los valores de otros países de América Latina; factor este que contribuye al alejamiento de la identidad de nuestra población en el devenir de sus vidas en el extranjero.
Esta realidad plantea la necesidad de fortalecer la expresión cultural dominicana en la sociedad norteamericana, a fin de que, los referentes culturales y la identidad de nuestro pueblo mantengan una presencia dinámica que nos permita encontrar las manifestaciones producidas por nuestra gente a través de la narrativa, el cuento y otros géneros literarios con los que se expresa la manera de ser del ente dominicano.
Una muestra de escritoras dominicanas y dominico-americanas contribuirá a preservar la herencia literaria e histórica de la isla a través del contenido y del estilo. Esta antología será un paso hacia un mayor entendimiento y una mayor dinámica entre estas dos culturas.
Si se identifica con este planteamiento, la invito a formar parte de esta propuesta en la que se utilizarán técnicas de antologías estadounidenses como la editada por Lillian Castillo-Speed, Latina: Women's Voices from the Borderlands, que hemos tomado de ejemplo por el éxito tenido al incluir ficción y memorias. Como en The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Diaspora in the United States, seleccionada por Edwidge Danticat, elaboraremos una estructura temática. Nuestra antología seguirá el mismo modelo escogido por esas dos autoras. Como pueden observar, habrá una gran amplitud para desarrollar diferentes temas en áreas como:
Familia
Feminismo
Exclusión
Femineidad
Fertilidad/Infertilidad
Maternidad
Migraciones
Racismo y prejuicios
Silencio
Doble vida
Política
Historia
Trabajo
Relaciones
Infidelidad
Machismo

Editora: Erika María Martínez es escritora Dominico-Americana con una Maestría en Bellas Artes y Escritura Creativa de Mills College en Oakland, California. Actualmente reside en Santo Domingo, República Dominicana como becaria Fulbright. Sus publicaciones están incluidas en Colorlines Magazine, The Womanist, Homelands: Women's Journeys Through Race, Place and Time. También colaboró en la exposición Terror? del museo Intersection for the Arts en San Francisco.
Publicación: La antología se publicará en inglés y español con una casa editorial independiente que se encargará de la distribución internacional.
Requisitos: Se solicitan obras literarias de escritoras dominicanas residentes en la isla o escritoras de ascendencia dominicana que residan en los Estados Unidos. Escritoras interesadas pueden colaborar con ficción, ensayos personales y memorias con un mínimo de 3,000 palabras y un máximo de 5,000 palabras. Favor de enviar trabajos que no hayan sido previamente publicados o que se encuentren en proceso de estarlo o de participar en un concurso No se devolverán los trabajos entregados.
Última fecha de entrega: 31 de enero de 2009
Formato: Los trabajos deben ser escritos a doble espacio y tener las páginas numeradas. Favor de incluir en la última página dirección de domicilio, correo electrónico, número de teléfono y una breve biografía (50-100 palabras).
Presentación: Preferiblemente vía e-mail. Favor de enviar trabajos como un documento en formato Word o Rich Text Format (extensión .doc o .rtf) a Erika María Martínez al correo electrónico <antologiaquisqueyana@gmail.com>. En la linea de asunto escriban "Antología."
Si no es posible entregar por correo electrónico enviar a:
Erika Martínez 1-12682
3508 N.W. 114th Ave. Suite A
Doral, FL 33178

Respuesta: Se enviará informaciones con respecto a la antología antes del 1ero de junio del 2009. Si no reciben respuesta para esa fecha es porque su trabajo no ha sido seleccionado. Se hará lo posible para contactar a todas las escritoras.

3 comments:

gian said...

This is great!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi. Although I'm writing this comment three years later than your post, I was wondering: did you get this published? Did you ever complete this project?

As a dominican woman and as a feminist, I would be delighted to see an anthology of dominican women writers. I have yet to bump into one and have been sort of craving to. Please let me know!

Unknown said...

Hi, RLW! Thanks for checking in on the anthology. The project is not one I initiated, but I did contribute a short story. This call was made by writer and editor extraordinaire Erika Martinez who you can learn more about here at www.erikammmartinez.com. We do have a complete manuscript, and last I checked, she was finalizing edits and shopping for a publisher. Wish us luck because, I'm with you -- we are long overdue for a collection such as this. It's not my place to reveal more, but I think you will be thrilled with and proud of the range of both established and new voices that will grace the anthology. I know that I'm humbled to be in the same company with the women Erika recruited.