Call for Submissions: Anti-Heroin Chic

 ​Anti-Heroin Chic is a collective journal of poetry, photography, art work, stories, essays, interviews and more.

 

'Anti-Heroin Chic' meaning that what is beautiful is what is broken, that our imperfections, our exiles, our exclusions, are what define our humanity most, not the polished surface or the Instagram culture which encourages us to dissociate from who and how we truly are. There is a seat for everyone here at the table. The idea of the commune very much animates this project. This journal strives for inclusion and a diversity of voices, not to disparage others but to lift them up. We also strive to publish those who are being neglected or under-served in the literary or art communities.

 

This is a space for those who have been left out in the cold in all sorts of ways, this is open to diverse interpretation. 'Chic' was also an aesthetic fashion-style associated with heroin, but in addition to that it was also a clique, a closed circle, so the journal is also a commentary on forms of inclusion and exclusion. Since we come down on the side of the former we try to be as egalitarian as possible in putting people's voices & their struggles/poems/artwork out there.

 

As in life, there will always be some rejection, but we seek to minimize, as much as possible, what we see as unexamined forms of privilege and bias, editorial, institutional and otherwise. If Jack Micheline were alive today we like to think you would have found him here. We are the boarded up cafe downwind from the Warhol factory where all of the downtrodden and rejected find that they have a seat waiting for them.

 

Anti-Heroin Chic is also an Anti-Drug-addiction safe space. We believe that drugs are what come easiest to pain but are also what magnifies that pain. We strive to publish those who have either crawled out of that hell or have known or lost those who succumbed to that dark cloud that is addiction.

 

Part of addiction is an inability to express pain that has become trapped. We want poems that find ways to express that pain. "Not why the addiction, but why the pain" as Dr. Gabor Mate writes. Why the pain. Tell us. Why.

 

You are not alone. There will be better tomorrow's if you can make it beyond this pain.

 

If the work is honest and from your heart we will most likely publish it. We may also choose not to, but we are nonetheless floored by the resiliency it takes to create and share that creation with us, and our rejections are heavy hearted. We take it very seriously whenever anyone decides to entrust us with their work.

 

In conclusion, show the world what you see when you are on the outside, looking in.

Editor-in-chief,
​James Diaz

Submissions are open.

Submissions can be sent in a word doc attachment or pasted into the body of the email.

We do like cover letters, as we are a very warm and personable publication. Don't be afraid to say hello (there's no right or wrong way to say hello.) We are all about authenticity, kindness and vulnerability here. We strive to make this space a welcoming, safe and friendly environment.

Poetry: Send 3 to 6 poems, along with a bio and your author photo, to our poetry editors Jenny Robbins and James Diaz:

 

ahcpoetrysubsATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Fiction: Send up to 2 pieces, maximum of 20 pages, double spaced, to Dylan Brie Ducey at:

 

antichicfictionATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )(Please make sure to double space your fiction submissions.)

CNF/Essay: Send up to 2 pieces, maximum of 20 pages to our Non-Fiction Editor Jenny Robbins: 

 

ahcnonfictionATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Art/Photography: 4 to 6 images in jpeg attachment to James Diaz:

 

jamesjdiaz68ATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )

Please include an author photo and a third person bio with all submissions. All work should be in a word document (please no PDF's) or pasted into the body of the email.

Response time within two months, often much sooner. Feel free to inquire after two months.