Call for Poetry and Short Fiction: Obsidian

Obsidian: Literature in the African Diaspora is currently seeking contributions for two soon-to-be published special issues on Pearl Cleage and James Baldwin, respectively.

Obsidian supports the work of writers composing the stories and poems of the African Diaspora. As the journal has evolved, it has also been committed to publishing excellent scholarly articles. At this juncture the journal seeks notable and provocative poems and short fiction to be published alongside scholarly articles selected for issues dedicated to the work of Pearl Cleage and James Baldwin.

As writers working in several genres, Cleage and Baldwin have made significant contributions to the interrogation of the politics of gender, race and her/history in American and African American culture. Obsidian invites previously unpublished creative writing engaging any aspects of the oeuvre of Cleage and Baldwin.

We are open to creative writing that engages any aspect of Cleage's, and Baldwin’s respective oeuvre and are particularly interested in:
- Free womanhood, feminism and womanism
- Poetic style and/or voice
- Racial identities and subjectivities and desire
- Gendering race and racing gender
- Racial consciousness and democracy
- Exile and Diaspora subjectivity
- Intertextuality
- Queer subjectivities and threshold identities
- Use of African Diaspora spirituality
- The politics of love and identity
- Violence and the black literary imagination
- The import of place, especially of urban spaces
- Absented whiteness
- Visions of black masculinity
- The poetics of witness and utterance
- Translation and border crossing

Deadline for receipt of submissions is Monday, May 10, 2010.

Guidelines (2010 special issues)
Obsidian: Literature in the African Diaspora, a non-profit organization hosted by North Carolina State University, is a semi-annual journal. We publish contemporary poetry, fiction, drama, and non-fiction prose from within, about, and contextualizing the African Diaspora.
Guidelines

All manuscripts that are submitted via mail must contain a self-addressed stamped envelope
Writers should include cover sheets bearing the author’s name, contact information, and the contents of the submission. All decisions of the editorial staff are final.
We do not accept simultaneous submissions or previously published works. Copyright reverts to authors upon publication.
Submissions for Cleage and Baldwin special issues will be processed within the month of May 2010. Responses can be expected shortly thereafter.
Each contributor will receive two complimentary copies of the journal. We deeply appreciate writers who subscribe to the journal as well as submit their work for publication.

Poetry: Poetry should be single-spaced. Poetry submissions should contain no more than 5 poems and not exceed 8 pages in the length.

Fiction: Submissions should be double-spaced and no longer than 20 pages in length.

Please send your work to the following address:
Obsidian: Literature in the African Diaspora
North Carolina State University
Department of English, Box 8105
Raleigh, NC 27695-8105

or by e-mail: obsidian(at)gw.ncsu.edu (replace (at) with @) (in Microsoft Word (.doc) or RTF format)
Neither the editors nor the staff assumes responsibility for loss or damage of submissions.