Call for Submissions
Submissions for Issue 2: ‘Maximalism’ now open
Please read before submitting
Submission Guidelines
Theme: MAXIMALISM
For our second edition we wanted to dig a little deeper and show up a little braver. In a world where violence is displayed directly on our phones and gaslighting occurs both in the media and our daily lives we have been inspired by those who dare to resist. We want to celebrate resistance to norms that are often rooted in colonialism and racism. However, we want this issue to not only talk about resistance, we want it to be resistance in its own right. We want to resist the values imposed on many of us that influence us to believe that minimalism is the only form of art, beauty and progress that matters. Instead we want to celebrate the beautiful heritage that many cultures across the world have in common: the wild (read: liberal) combinations of pattern, ornaments, colours that we grew up with one way or another. Either in the rugs and curtains in the sanctity of our homes in the west, or the buildings and markets we were privileged to visit when exploring our origins. We want to encourage our contributors to write and create with reckless abandon of the voices that tell us to minimize ourselves and our worlds.
Main Requirements
18+ years old
Open to everyone linked to a diaspora worldwide, and have multifaceted identities
Unpublished pieces (personal blogs are an exception)
Can submit multiple pieces at once
Simultaneous submissions to other magazines are welcome, but inform us as soon as possible if accepted elsewhere
Submissions should be English (Other languages are welcome if translation is provided)
What We Accept
Fiction – short stories or standalone novel excerpts (no longer than 5000 words)
Creative/Narrative nonfiction – essays, memoirs, travel literature and interviews (no longer than 5000 words)
Poetry (up to three poems) per person
Flash Fiction (no longer than 750 words)
Art including photography, comics and illustrations: At least two and accompanied with text (please explain your work in one to three sentences or provide a brief teaser)
Submission Requirements
Online written submissions must be in a single file in .doc, .docx, or PDF format. (except in cases of images/illustration)
For images and illustrations, please attach high resolution jpeg files with an ideal max file size of 10MB but no more than 100MB
Your submission title must be in the following format: YourSurname_SubmissionTitle
You must include a cover letter with your submission on the first page with the title of the piece, its category, word count, your name, contact details, website/social media links, and a 50-word bio
Fiction must be double-spaced. Indicate stanza breaks in poetry. If submitting more than one poem, begin each poem on a new page.
Include page numbers on prose or multi-page poems.
Review process
We consider all submissions and we aim to respond within four weeks. We are not in the position to give individual feedback but please bear in mind that some stories may be well written, yet still unsuitable for WAYF Journal or may not fit with the theme of the current issue. We hope this does not deter you from submitting to future editions. We always look forward to receiving your work.
Compensation
We currently do not offer any compensation for submission as we are currently self-funded, but we hope to bring you the fortune of readership. We plan to pay contributors for subsequent editions in the future.
Fine Print
Writers retain full rights to their work post-publication. If you would like to republish your story elsewhere, please make sure that WAYF Journal is credited and linked to as the original publisher.
Questions?
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us here. If you don’t have any questions, what are you waiting for? Submit below!
Before making your submission, please check:
Your spelling, punctuation, spacing, and all other formatting.
You have included your name and social media handles, website, or relevant links.
You have not exceeded the word count in your category
Meet our Guest Editors
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Fiction Editor
Ambata Kazi is a writer, editor and teacher born and raised in New Orleans, LA. Her writing has been featured in Rowayat, Carve, Torch Literary Arts, midnight & indigo, CRAFT, and other journals. Her novel Far Away from Here recently published with Spark Press. She is the senior editor at Sapelo Square and currently resides in the Atlanta metro area.
What Ambata is looking for:
I love the idea of maximalism in writing because I like to see, hear, feel and taste my way through the story worlds. Don’t hold back the details! As a reader I love to gain new ways to see the world and everyone and everything in it. I appreciate nuanced writing with complex characters. I love stories that give me a (re)invigorating sense of hope which is not to say with a neat bow so much as an arrow. Don’t be afraid to go deep, I’m here to be immersed.
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Non-Fiction Editor
Noha Beshir is an essayist and poet who writes about belonging, faith, and the multi-generational immigrant experience. Her writing has been featured in Maisonneuve Magazine, Mania Magazine, and WAYF Journal. She also writes a weekly newsletter, Letters from a Muslim Woman (nohabeshir.substack.com). She lives in Ottawa, Canada with her husband and two boys.
What Noha is looking for:
I'm looking for writing that’s honest and vivid. Writing that doesn’t worry about conforming to colonial language rules like “show don’t tell” or “adjectives are bad”. Writing that celebrates the brightness and the fullness of the diasporic experience, or mourns it in all its richness if you are not in a celebratory space.
Break the rules, but break them with skill and beauty. Explain things to me. Take me down rabbit holes. Rant and vent and love but take me with you on whichever journey you're going. Let's maximise the parts of ourselves and our worlds that we've spent our whole lives minimising.
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Poetry Editor
Faheem Hemboum is a writer and editor based in Berlin. His work draws on classic as well as contemporary Black and Africana thought across multiple disciplines. He currently examines the histories of Third World solidarity beyond Bandung. Recently, his chapter The Black Roots of African Studies has been published as part of the edited volume “Black(ness) in German African Studies”.
What Faheem is looking for:
I am looking for writing that expands the language we use and the feelings it evokes in response. From a word to a verse and beyond—I want to know how many rhythms can dance on one page. Set your words free and let them express themselves.
“In becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for my life, however short it might be, priorities and omissions became strongly etched in a merciless light and what I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid?”
— Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals