Anthology Announcement & an Open Call

This project is the brainchild of myself and my fellow editors Hillary Dodge and Josh Viola. The cover art was created by the award-winning artist Aaron Lovett, who will also be completing original interior art for the individual stories as well. Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas is scheduled to be published in October 2021 by Hex Publishers. And yes, there will be an open call for authors and poets interested in submitting. (More about that later.)

From the very beginning, we decided that this was not going to be a conventional anthology. We were steadfast in reserving spots for an open submission call. We knew we wanted a strong representation of dark poetry alongside short fiction. And we were determined to have a table of contents dominated by women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized and underrepresented voices.

When sending out invitations for Shadow Atlas, we were able to bring together authors and poets from various subgenres existing under the umbrella of speculative fiction to create a unique discourse examining the American continents through a multi-faceted lens. It’s truly been a remarkable experience to see the ways this diversity adds to the exploration of these lands and all they encompass. Interspersed throughout the anthology, nonfiction “field notes” bring in additional narratives focused on location-based cryptids, haunted sightings, lost cities, mysterious forces, and the layered textuality of peoples past and present.

Our current list of confirmed contributors includes Mario Acevedo,
Kay Chronister, Sara Cleto & Brittany Warman (The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic), Sean Eads, Warren Hammond, Angie Hodapp, Gwendolyn Kiste, Josh Malerman, Lee Murray, Annie Neugebauer, Cynthia Pelayo, Gerardo Horacio Porcayo, Sarah Read, Julia Rios, Betty Rocksteady, Angela Yuriko Smith, Christina Sng, Jeanne C. Stein, Tim Waggoner, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Jane Yolen, E. Lily Yu, and Alvaro Zinos-Amaro.

Pretty cool, isn’t it?

The open call will be held from June 21 to June 27, 2021. Anything sent BEFORE or AFTER these dates will be deleted unread. If you want to get a jump start on your submission, here is a bit about the theme:

Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas will be a collection of dark tales intrinsically rooted in the places from which they’ve sprung. We seek haunting and folkloric tales where setting is character and landscape is an essential part of the story. We want stories that draw from the wellspring of cultural destinations and local folklore in their shaping – most especially, stories that are tied to a specific and concrete location. This can include places that never existed, or those with connections created by the author, but they must take place in South America. Original tales, mash-ups, and new takes on known folkloric elements/cryptids/legends are all welcome.

There is an old saying that wisdom sits in places. Open an atlas across the Americas, and you will soon discover this knowledge hidden in fragments of shared memory marked on maps. The ancient peoples knew which areas to avoid, which spirits to appease. Later, invasive superstitions from far-flung countries seeded into the landscape. In order to survive, newcomers learned the cautionary tales and secret lore linked to the terrain. But not all paid heed to superstitions. These are their stories, each tale a new entry in the field guide to dark landscapes. From folk to urban horror, tell us about the places that leave their mark on the human psyche, those that resonate deep inside and leave something behind in return.

Payment: $250 for short fiction; $25 for poetry
Rights: Exclusive rights for 18 months after publication
Length: 2500 to 3000 words for short fiction; up to 35 lines for poetry
Submission Period: June 21 to June 27, 2021
Expected Release Date: October 2021
No reprints, multiple or simultaneous subs

Use classic Shunn formatting. Send as an attachment in doc or docx. In the subject line, put “Shadow Atlas,” the name of your story or poem, and author name. Example: Shadow Atlas – Story/Poem Title – Author Name.

Please send submissions to shadowatlas@hexpublishers.com. Include a short bio.

Everything submitted outside of the open call dates will be deleted.