DEADLINE: 19TH SEPTEMBER

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us thus far. Thank you for your retweets and retumbles, for following us on Facebook and generally spreading the word about our event. Buoyed by your support, we thoroughly intend to put on a brilliant, multi-disciplinary festival, with conferences and workshops in the day and performance in the evening.

With a growing number of amazing speakers, academics, artists and musicians, from the U.S. and Europe, we’re looking to produce an anthology of work to help raise funds for our special guests.

As such, we’re looking to you, our talented sisters and brothers out there. Our first anthology will include artwork, comics, essays and short stories. However, we’re also putting together a special album which will contain spoken word, poetry, music and soundscape art. We will be giving the complete set as rewards for contributing to our Kickstarter as well as available for sale after the event.

GUIDELINES

WRITING

1. The theme of the anthology is ‘what will it mean to be black in the future?’. We welcome stories that are woman positive and explore alternative sexualities and gender expression; the nature of futuristic spirituality and religion and the impact our history as black people will have on our future. Fiction and non-fiction are accepted.
2. Fiction/Biographical pieces must be less than 5,000 words in length. Flash fiction and poetry is also accepted.
3. Academic Non-fiction must be less than 8,000 words in length and referenced using the Harvard Reference Style. A useful tool can be found here.
4. Up to three entries are allowed per author. Each must be submitted as a separate .doc/.docx file.
5. Please submit your work as .doc/.docx files only. Double line spacing with the author’s name, page number and story title/paper title at the top of every page.

ART

We welcome all art that focuses on an afrofuturist theme. Images must be of minimum 300 dpi and in formats optimised for printing. We will make sure to contact you for preferences regarding layout.

COMICS

We would love to see work using the comics medium. Please ensure all pieces are less than 12 pages in length.

AUDIO

1. We accept spoken word, poetry readings, music and soundscapes. If you are unsure if your piece is suitable, please get in touch via the email below.
2. All pieces must be under 6 minutes.
3. Up to three entries are allowed.
4. Please submit your work as .mp4 files only.
5. In your submission email, include your performance name, the title, length and any additional information about the piece.

Please send all submissions to: afrofutures.uk@gmail.com

Do remember that this is a free event, open to everyone of all ages. It is our aim to encourage participation from amongst those who might not normally be able to, or feel welcome to, attend a conference/exhibition space like this. Your contributions will help us take care of our guest speakers and ensure that the event is one to remember!