Lil Blume

Pinking Shears Publications

Call for Submissions

In conjunction with a Jewish literary festival in Hamilton to be held in 2011, we are preparing an anthology of contemporary Canadian Jewish writing on the theme.

Letters and Pictures from the Old Suitcase

1. Find and scan an old photograph and

describe the people or place in the picture
imagine the lives of the people in the picture,
speak to them, engage them in conversation, or speak in their voice

2. Find an old letter, postcard, or document (diary, recipe, contract, immigration paper, Yahrzeit list) and

write about the item -- perhaps include the words of the item in your piece; or
transcribe the letter and add notes and context

3. Find and photograph an artifact (wedding ring, menorah, watch, pinking shears) and

write a poem or story in which the item is significant

Imagine that these pictures, letters, or items were left for you to find. What is the author or owner telling you?

If this topic throws you into a panic:

4. Talk about the feelings that emerge in thinking about or approaching the old suitcase

The following passage appears in Paul Auster's amazing book, The Invention of Solitude:

"After my father died, I discovered a trunk that had once belonged to his mother in the cellar of his house. It was locked, and I decided to force it open with a hammer and screwdriver, thinking it might contain some buried secret, some long lost treasure. As the hasp fell down and I raised the lid, there it was, all over again -- that smell, wafting up toward me, immediate, palpable, as if it had been my grandmother herself. I felt as though I had just opened her coffin."

This paragraph suggests some reasons why we might avoid the old suitcases, trunks, or boxes that wait in our parents' basements or travel with us from home to home -- suitcases that we can neither open nor throw away.

We're sure you get the idea. Feel free to send previously written or previously published material that explores these ideas providing you are the holder of the copyright. If previously published, please cite the reference.

Guidelines:
We prefer poetry no longer than 60 lines and short prose pieces of not more than 500 words. We prefer that any pictures either be scanned directly onto your page or sent as a jpeg attachment. We will be printing in black and white, so please scan in black and white. Please include a 30-50 word bio with your submission (i.e. Ellen S. Jaffe lives in Hamilton and can be found writing poetry and young adult fiction in the Locke Street Bagel Bakery. She also teaches writing in schools. For more information, see www.ellen-s-jaffe.com. )

Deadline: Chanukah, 2010

Notice of Inclusion: Passover, 2011

Submission Procedure:

Email submissions to

pinkingshearspublications@gmail.com

Use one of the following formats

a preVista version of WORD
WordPerfect
rtf

Please share this email with other Jewish writers.

Pinking Shears Publications is a not-for-profit publisher, particularly interested in family stories and memoir. All funds from the sale of our books are used for literary events or future publications.

Authors chosen for the Letters and Pictures from the Old Suitcase anthology will receive two copies of our publication and be invited to speak at the literary festival in Hamilton. There will likely be a relaunch of the anthology in Toronto at a later date.

Authors retain all rights to their pieces.