Submissions Round Two

Thanks to everyone who submitted for round one. We will be in touch with each of you by July. We are now moving into round two of submissions.

Overview

Mapping Me: A Landscape of Women’s Stories is an anthology of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, photography and artwork. Its objective is to explore the connections – the invisible threads – that exist between women across the globe. Our starting point is to place the most basic question of identity, “Who am I?” within the complexities of culture and ethnicity. How do women respond to motherhood, rage, loss, relationships and loneliness across cultures? Do we share the same concept of grief and sadness, joy and love? We ask the writers and artists to tell stories, which negotiate the demands placed upon everyday women by society. The goal of this project is the sharing of such stories that allow the readers to draw their own conclusions whether or not culture is a divisive state between women.

Content

Mapping Me: A Landscape of Women’s Stories is about transcending the physical geography of our contributors as they map the internal landscapes of their lives. Our themes are those ‘points which connect us.’ While the female reality varies across countries, still we laugh and we cry. We may not personally understand the experience of arranged marriages, bound feet, or restrictions across checkpoints but we can understand a mother’s love, a daughter’s pain and a young girl’s giggle. Some of our themes explore the bonds between women, shifts in consciousness and experiences in extreme situations but all our stories are by women and their choices. Our objective is to breakdown the different stereotypes in an entertaining - and sometimes comical – way. This anthology gives voices a chance to be heard and the reader an opportunity to listen to positive female stories outside of tabloid global gossip.

Some Questions To Think About

So what does this mean for you? Well really, it is up to you. Some questions we have we been asking artists and writers to think about are:

1. Who are you? Are you a 'Culture' first or a 'Woman' first? What is your voice?

2. How do you negotiate the cultural and/or societal authorities that tell you to be thin, pretty, get married, have children, worship, obey/disobey, have a career, stay at home etc.

3. Do you have a burning story about an event, a lost love, heartbreak, arranged marriages, unarranged marriages, infertility, fertility, or even a bathroom cluttered with make up.

4. Do you want to express conflict? Family dynamics? Frustrations over rivalries, children, demands of home and work, silences, arguments, tension with extended

families. Do you have a story of revenge? Manipulation? Women are complex creatures and we are capable of great loving as well as great evil too. We are, of course, human.

5. Who do you see in the mirror each morning? How does your culture affect your body image? Does it? Do you fight against it? Do you buy into any stereotypes? Do you have a funny story to share. We are looking for humour too. This is not a grim book.

Categories

Please select a category and create a story, poem, creative non-fiction or artwork.

· Category 1. Stories of movement and motivation, restriction and escape.

· Category 2. Stories about food and nurturing.

· Category 3. Stories about, touch, love, sexuality or virginity.

· Category 4. Stories about self-image, judgments, perceptions and observation.

· Category 5. Stories about motherhood, family, marriage, fertility, birth.

· Category 6. Stories of laughter, fun, malice, viciousness.

Additional Guidelines

Please make sure your work conforms to the following guidelines:

· For round two, contributors’ literary works must be original and unpublished.

· You may submit as many works as you wish.

· Writer’s Word Count Guidelines

1. Short stories: no more than 1000 words
2. Creative non-fiction: no more than 1000 words
3. Poetry: 4 to 6 pieces.

4. Flash fiction - anything less than 500 words.

· Your work must be submitted as either an attachment in a rich text format (RTF) or a word document (doc). No PDF files or docx files, please! We simply cannot work with these file formats. Alternatively, you may paste your work in the body of the email. If your writing has a specific format, attach it as a file to the email.

Works can be submitted in your mother tongue. Please provide an English translation with your submission.

· Artwork Guidelines

· You may submit as many paintings, photographs or a mix of art and prose as possible. We accept JPG files (no JPF)

· Submit your work to Orchid Tierney and Tamara Azizian at mappingme@gmail.com

· Please provide a cover letter and include a short biography (no more than 50 words).

· Let us know under what categories you are submitting your works.

· Deadline is the 1^st of September 2010

· Our reading period is 1 to 3 months

Please do not send links of your writing or artwork. We will not read them.

Payment

We regret that are unable to provide payment to contributors as this is a self-funded enterprise.

Any questions please contact us at

mappingme (at) gmail (dot) com or visit us at www.mapping-me.blogspot.com

Update

Just a quick update from the Mapping Me Team. After a marathon seven hour meeting yesterday, Tamara and I have finished our proposal and we begin the submission process next week. As some of you are aware, this next stage is very much 'let's wait and see' so please bear with us. In the meantime, the first round of sample pitches will begin next Saturday where we will be looking at individual samples. From Tamara and I, we hope you have a wonderful weekend and for the Kiwis: a safe Queen's Birthday Weekend. Drive carefully, the weather is terrible and the roads are slippery!

The Landscape Across Borders

تضاريسي, أو "ماپنچ مي": منظور في قصص النساء, هو عمل أدبي فني مثير يهدف الى جمع مختارات من القصص القصيرة و الشعر و الأعمال الفنية و الومضات الخيالية و التصوير الفوتوغرافي, تبحث في تجارب نسائية من ثقافات و أعراق متنوعة.

هدف المشروع هو المشاركة بقصص نسوية عن الحب و الالم و السعادة و السخط, و إعطاء مساحة للقرّاء لإستنباط احكامهم الخاصة حول ما إذا كانت الثقافة عنصرا فاصلا بين النساء.

نطلب إليكن ان تبعثوا لنا باعمالكن الأدبية و الفنية مع سيرتكن الذاتية. كما و سوف نقوم بإخطاركن حول آخر موعد للتسليم في وقت لاحق.

المهارات الأساسية التي نبحث عنها:

سواء نشرتِ أدبك أو عرضتِ أعمالك الفنية فيما سبق أم لم يتسنَ لكِ ذلك بعد, فنحن نبحث عنكِ.

للراغبات بالمشاركة, يرجى إرسال عينة من اعمالكن على:

mappingme (at) gmail.com

مع العلم باننا نحتاج الى أن تُترجَمَ الأعمال المكتوبة الى الإنجليزية لكي نقوم بنشرها.

Mapping Me: A Landscape of Women's Stories is an exciting new anthology collection of short stories, poetry, art work, flash fiction and photography that explores the female experience of women across cultures and ethnicities. The key of this project is the sharing of feminine stories of love and pain, joy and rage and allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions whether or not culture is a divisive state between women.

Currently we are seeking samples of creative work and a biography. Submission deadlines for the anthology work will be provided at a later date.

Key skills sought:

Both published and previously unpublished/unexhibited women of any age and ethnicity.

If you are interested in this project, please email samples of your work to:

mappingme (at) gmail.com

Please note, we would need to translate your work into English.

MM - it's short for Mapping Me not the chocolate sweet.

Tamara and I had a long meeting today. Needless to say, I am exhausted and in desperate need of a good English breakfast tea. So sit back, kittlings, put your feet up and let your hands cup a warm mug of soy/milk/coca/coffee/tea, it is time for our weekly update.

Over the coming weeks we will be assessing our samples/submissions. It will a careful process made so much harder by the incredible quality of the work we have received. Our reading period is currently a month, so please feel free to nag us if you haven't heard from us by July. Nevertheless, we are truely heartened by the responses. We will be setting up a database of emails to keep our readers and contributors in the loop of any developments. As a writer myself I know how tedious and nerve-wrecking the waiting process is. Believe me, Tamara and I are currently living it!

The purpose of our meeting today was to nut out our proposal. After seven hours, I think not only surpassed our goal but we left it quaking at the side of the road. Our next step is to begin to approach literary agents and publishers with the view towards the international market. Watch this space.

As always, we are appreciative of the support and kindness of all women who have submitted their samples. Please pass on the word about Mapping Me to your friends, colleagues and families. The more people are aware of this project, greater is the readership for our contributors!

Facebook Invasions and Help in Unexpected Places

I'm a believer in the simple adage: what you don't ask, you don't receive. Sometimes you ask and you don't get that expected outcome but really, c'est la vie. Still all you can do is try again and if necessary, keep asking because sometimes you just might score that gold medal. Tamara and I are very grateful for those medals we have received thus far on this Mapping Me journey. We thank the Fantasticos from Femrite: Ugandan Women Writers Association and the Palestinian Writers and Their Friends group as well as all the wonderful women who have so far submitted some truly astounding literary and artistic work. Which leads me to my next point. Mapping Me isn't about a couple of sheilas with an idea. It's about giving a loudhailer to all the screaming, laughing, crying, joking and whispering voices of women who are living our stories. Our purpose is simple: through literary and artistic expression, women can become empowered. And empowered women are HEARD.

In the true spirit of over-saturating the internet, check out our new Facebook group. Over the next few weeks, Tamara and I will be building our publisher's proposal but if you want to drop us line, say hello, or pose a question feel free to email us at

mappingme (at) gmail.com

No question is too big or small. Just remember, artistes, what you don't ask, you don't receive.

Poof....the week that was

It seems as I grow older, the days turn faster. Certainly it has been the case this week, as Tamara and I approach the middle of May with our 1st of June deadline approaching. Of course, I have been working on a television show this week - it's hard and fatiguing work - yet after a long day it's a pleasant feeling to open my inbox and see those samples waiting to be read. Truly I'm astounded to see the wealth of talent, those quiet voices finding voice within the magma of literature and unpublished writing.

The key to empowering and encouraging women in literary endeavours is to encourage the creativity of family and whanau, of village and town, of city and country and of Nation! Mapping Me isn't just a project about celebrating women - it's about celebrating what it means to be human upon this blue planet.

So for anyone wondering: 'can I write or draw? Can I contribute?' the question I would ask you is

'will you?'

Happy writing.

Hi

Hello everyone!

This is Tamara (and assisted by Orchid!)- the other half of Mapping Me. I decided it's time I learn how to use this blog (I am the non-technical one...and a bit challenged in that area). I am very excited about the interest that we've received from various corners of the world including Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nepal! This week we continued with our research and we met with book store owners to discuss the process and what is trending at the moment. Right now we are having our Saturday meeting update to read our latest submissions over coffee and health store sweet goodies (sourced by Orchid).

We'll be in touch soon.