Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins

Edited by Kelsi Morris and Derek Newman-Stille

Exile Editions

Fairy tales are often about the encounter with the strange, fantastic, and otherworldly. They are frequently used as texts of warning, inspiring conformity by telling people what they shouldn’t do. We want to explore the power of fairy tales as texts of resistance, as ways of speaking back to those power structures that try to get us to conform. Over the Rainbow will be an anthology that explores the power of fairy tales to introduce the under-represented. We encourage authors to explore Queer (LGBTIA2 and QUILTBAG) stories, POC tales, Indigenous narratives, tales of people with disabilities, stories of mental health, poly relationships, and bodily diversity. Our hope is to use fairy tales to smash tradition and reshape it with (dis)enchantment.

Over the Rainbow seeks to bring readers into the woods where transformations and new beginnings can happen. We hope to play with traditional fairy tale tropes in unconventional ways, offering a shattered mirror image of our world and our imagination. This includes an exploration of fairy tales through all genres – horror, humour, slipstream, steampunk, cyberpunk, science fiction, western, urban fantasy, magical realism, etc. We hope to see non-western fairy tales, fairy tales that explore new family dynamics and relationships, fairy tales that explore different bodies, and fairy tales that push boundaries into the strange and otherworldly.

We are interested in exploring new perspectives on traditional tales. For example:

• What is going through the minds of the kitchen staff while a traditional fairy tale is occurring?
• What if Cinderella lost her cybernetic leg?
• What are the traditional fairy tales that goblins tell their children?
• What do coffee sprites do when confronted with milk goblins?
• What if a dragon showed up in Toronto?
• What would happen if a fairy godmother became fed up with helping mortals with all of their problems?
• What if the internet manifested its own djinn?
• What if fairy tale creatures started their own freak show?
• What do we find on the other side of the Norse rainbow bridge Bifrost?

We want tales that will let us venture into the woods and encounter our Others, but they don’t need to be the Northern woods. There is a rich history of fairy tales in Canada, but the stories themselves don’t need to be set in Canada. We hope to provide an opportunity for writers to explore all types of real and fictional landscapes. We welcome creative revisions and reexaminations of folklore, legend, fable, and myth along with subjects traditionally considered fairy tales.

SUBMISSION DETAILS:

Your submission can be in any genre that suits the theme of your story.

Length: 2000 to 5000 words.

Payment: 5 cents/word (CAD) for original fiction, and a contributor’s copy.

All writers must be Canadian citizens (living in Canada and/or paying taxes in Canada) and permanent residents of Canada.

We are hoping to include a wide range of diverse voices and interpretations, including writers of colour and of indigenous/Native heritage, Francophone writers, writers with disabilities, LGBTQ2IA (or QUILTBAG or Queer-identified) writers, and new generation writers (aged 18-30). We encourage writing from authors who come from under-represented groups since Exile cares a lot about the multiplicity of voices and perspectives that make up Canada.

No multiple submissions. If you received a rejection before the deadline, you may submit a new work.

We are looking for original fiction only. No reprints, please.

Submit stories in standard manuscript format as a .doc, .docx, or RTF with indented paragraphs, italics in in italics, and bold in bold. Include full contact information and word count on the first page. Include a cover letter (name, story title, and word count, contact information, previous publications) in the body of the email.

Submissions in English only, although stories translated into English are also acceptable.

Rights purchased: First English-Language Rights & Non-exclusive Anthology Rights (Print and eBook).

Indicate in the subject line: Submission: Story Title, Last Name.

Deadline: December 1, 2016.

Reading Period: December 1- January 3, 2017 and replies will come by January 15th, 2017.

Submit via submittable at https://exilepublishing.submittable.com/submit

If you have any questions or would like to send us a query, please contact us at overtherainbow.exile@gmail.com.

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