Softissues is a new publication produced by the creative studio holobiont, that will re-examine what it means to be ‘soft’. Often used in the pejorative, ‘softness’ can connote weakness, foolishness, or even madness, but we believe that the term is ripe for reinterpretation. Softissues will explore counter-narratives around ‘softness,’ ones that wriggle free from the grasp of cis-hetero patriarchal norms. Submissions are open to all, but we particularly welcome work from female, trans, non-binary and POC contributors, as well as those from any marginalised communities.
We welcome work that engages with ‘softness’ in all of its guises, falling anywhere along the spectrum of the literal to the poetic. Submissions could take the form of essays, poems, fiction, photography, visual art, though as with the amorphous nature of ‘softness,’ we are open to the ambiguous.
The deadline for submissions is 2nd September 2024, with our first issue due to be published in late Autumn 2024. While we cannot guarantee all submissions will be featured in the print publication, we hope to find a home for more contributions in a digital version. We will contact selected contributors by the end of September 2024.
Please email your submission to hello@holobiont.lol, with ‘Softissues1 Your Name’ as the subject. Contact us on instagram or via email for any questions.
N.b.: This is currently an unfunded project. We applied for funding in order to pay contributors, but were unsuccessful this time. We are sorry if this means submitting to the open call is not accessible to you right now. We hope the first issue will help secure funding for the next one. In the meantime, we promise to send a print copy to every contributor as an exchange for your work, and hope we will be able to pay everyone adequately in the future.
Much love,
holobiont
(Ella, Georgia, Lorna & Anna)
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