Call for Submissions on Themes of Road Trips or Dive Bars for Two Anthologies: Hippocampus

 ROAD

Cheaper airfare, among other factors, led to the decline of the family road trip. But Clark Griswold is our hero. His family’s zany road trip to Wally World in 1983 is indeed fiction, but this brilliant screwball comedy also might remind us of our own adventures crossing the country in a car full of people and a cooler full of snacks.

We’re looking for (true) road trip stories of up to 5,000 words for this essay collection. While Route 66 and other now desolate U.S. highways immediately come to mind when thinking of road trips, we are interested in stories from around the globe. Maybe you were the Clark of your family. Or maybe one of your parents was. Maybe your road trip was for fun and adventure, but perhaps it was a more somber destination. Maybe you were in a car, or maybe you were in an RV. Maybe you camped along the way or checked into roadside motels. We’d all entertain solo travel stories, with or without a car (maybe you hitchhiked to the other coast).

What we are most looking for are stories with strong characters and an arc that take place in a mobile setting.

CORNER DIVE BARS

I (Hippocampus publisher Donna) grew up in coal country in Northeast Pennsylvania, a place where some towns and boroughs boast playfully that they have the most drinking establishments per capita. The blue-collar region has many gems of corner and dive bars that have been open for generations. And many of them look almost the same as they did on opening day. Whenever I go back and visit and pass these places, I’m just filled with nostalgia for neighborhood gathering spots.

There’s something special about these places: maybe it’s the jar of jerky, the big canister of pickled eggs, the rack of tiny bags of potato chips behind the bar. Maybe it’s the stories you hear — or tell.

For this essay collection, we’re looking for stories that are set in or revolve around a corner bar/dive bar (or small pub or tavern). Like the ROAD collection, we’re seeking stories up to 5,000 words with strong characters and arc. We’re open to stories that explore all aspects of these establishments: we know it was not always fun and games. 

DEADLINE

Submissions open Jan. 15, 2020, and the deadline is Jun 15, 2020. We will begin reviewing submissions in earnest after the deadline.

Contributors receive $50 honorarium and two contributor copies.

Submit your work here.