Submission Call - Silk and Foxglove
SUBMISSION CALL: “SILK AND FOXGLOVE” EDITED BY Z. K. ABRAHAM
Z. K. Abraham (she/her) is a writer and psychiatrist. She has been published in Clarkesworld, The Rumpus, Fantasy Magazine, FIYAH Magazine, JMWW, and more. She will be a Royal Literary Fund Reading Round lector for 2024-2025. She is represented by Carleen Geisler at ArtHouse Literary Agency.
Read Abraham's interview here!
Eco-horror explores the idea of nature becoming the source of terror; in an article for MUBI, Danielle Burgos describes eco-horror as “nature becomes uncanny and maliciously turned against man.” In a Teen Vogue article “Ecosexuals are Queering Environmentalism,” musician Peaches describes Mother Earth as a lover. “Sex-ecologist” Annie Sprinkle amusingly reflects on how “all this wood here is very sensual.” Ecosexuality might include, “masturbating with water pressure, using eco-friendly lubricant, or literally having sex with a tree.”
Nature as setting or character contains so much possibility for the sensual and horrifying. Nature is inherently physical and erotic; we are stripped down to our most grounded, raw selves in nature. We can experience the tactile and sensual when we touch plants, bark, earth, when we smell flowers, when we feel the shift in temperature or moisture in the air. However, nature contains decay as well as growth. Shadows move between distant trees, while legends and folktales come to life in forests and valleys and deserts. In nature’s beauty, there is a sense of power beyond our grasp, an awe-inspiring terror, as well as a delicate intimacy.
With this anthology, we are looking for stories between 1500 to 4000 words (firm) that explore eco-horror with a sexy or erotic spin. Please note that for this call, we will only be considering submissions from BIPOC authors. Additionally, while a portion of the anthology will be from invited contributors, Hedone Books is dedicated to encouraging and elevating new voices in the community. For this reason, we are pledging that at least 70% of the anthology’s total word count come from unsolicited submissions.
What we would love to see: In our anthology, we are looking for the tactile, the mysterious, the terrifying and the erotic. We want seductive flowers, threatening plants, leaves caressing flesh, the dark corners of forests, folk horror, myths and legends from non-Western cultures, queerness, anti-colonialism, breaking away from the imposed shame of Western cultures on the body and nature, climate change metaphors and nature’s revenge, nature as dominant, body horror, the visceral and the dream-like. We are inspired by work from Jeff Vandermeer, Chana Porter, Samantha Schweblin, Tiffany Morris, Hedone’s very own Caitlin Marceau and Lindz McLeod, and more. We love movies from Midsommar to a one-minute eco-erotic video-poem of “Night Rain” by Tania Haberland and directed by Poetics of Reverie. For more resources on eco-eroticism and what we’re looking for, be sure to check out Hedone Books on social media (under the handle @HedoneBooks) and view our pinned posts.
What we don’t want: Rape fantasies, beastiality, works promoting hateful ideologies, and stories including sexual content with minors. Please note that consensual non-consent (CNC) is okay as long as it is clear it is consensual non consent.
Submission window: November 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024
Length: 1,500 - 4,000 words (firm)
Payment: $0.01 USD per word
Format: Stories should be formatted in 12 pt. Times New Roman, double spaced. Please include your pen name and author email address, but do not include your phone number or address. Please include trigger warnings at the top of the page.
Rights: Exclusive First Worldwide Publication, Print and Electronic Rights for one year (from date of publication), and non-exclusive rights thereafter.
Contributor copies: One physical copy and one digital copy.
Simultaneous submissions: Allowed, but please promptly withdraw your story if it is accepted elsewhere. No reprints or multiple submissions.
Contact: All submissions should be sent to submissions@hedonebooks.com. (Word files only. Please do not paste your story in the body of the email.) Please make your subject line:
SILK AND FOXGLOVE – “Story Title” – Author Name – Word Count.
Responses: We aim to finalize the table of contents by January 2025.