Submissions Call: Spring 2013
Let’s talk about FOOD! Our genre editors say a few words about the sweet and savory work they’re hungry for.
Submissions for Hot Metal Bridge are rolling, but the spring issue submission deadline is Friday, April 19th.
Fiction
For the Spring 2013 issue of Hot Metal Bridge, we want to see stories that deal with matters of sustenance, that which keeps us going. Sustenance can be central to the story or peripheral, because no matter how emotional, intellectual or visceral a tale we still need food, sleep and other foundations. Most importantly your submission should have substance, but for this issue we are interested in stories that investigate or concern themselves with basic needs. As an online magazine, we search for works that have a sense of immediacy and a distinctive voice that beckons us further into the piece. Please send us your best unpublished work through Submittable, and feel free to simultaneously submit to other folks as well, but withdraw your story if it is accepted elsewhere. We usually accept stories that are less than 6,000 words.
Nonfiction
For this issue, we’re welcoming essays and stories about moments and incidents where food and sustenance, our daily bread and savory delights, the roots of our livelihood and the pleasures on our plates play intricate roles in the lives of individuals or communities. We’re interested in your writing on both the seen and unseen, big and small, conflicts and dramas borne of the simple daily act: eating. We’re open to the essays that explore the difficult questions (e.g., sustainability, alternative food sources, the ethics of daily diets, etc.) as well as the lighthearted and personal (e.g., dinners gone awry, love letters to food, such as: “Dear Chocolate Chip Cookie, Get in my belly!” kitchen disasters, delectable moments of wonder, etc.). Whatever the subject, we want to hear about it in an essay or story that blends facts and research with narrative techniques.
Of course, we’ll take good ol’ regular submissions, too. All submissions go through our online submissions manager.
Poetry
The poet Kevin Young once joked that all his poems are about food or hair. From the wine and mutton ofThe Rubáyát of Omar Khayyám to the objects, food, and rooms of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons, poets have used food and consumption as a means of exploring language and consciousness. For this issue, we’d like to ask: What sustains us as poets and people in this 21st century moment?
As always, our first priority is publishing well-crafted, nuanced work. We accept submissions through our website via Submittable. We also ask that you review a previous issue or two to get a sense of what we’ve published in the past.