Lisa A. Kramer

Hello Creative Collaborators!

Spark Collaborative Media is pleased to invite you to submit your work for our first anthology!

Reclaiming Goddesses: Bringing the World into Balance

We are looking for short stories, poetry, artwork, personal essays, creative non-fiction that explore a world where the goddesses of the past (from all cultures) reclaim their voices and their purposes.

• Submission Deadline: rolling submissions, as we gather material
• Tentative Publication Date:  TBA

• We are collecting submissions on Google Forms.
• Prose pieces (including short stories, essays, reflections, etc.): 1000-5000 words
• Poetry of any length (no epic poems please)
• Artwork can include anything. We will also be looking for something that would be appropriate for the cover. Please include a short author’s statement (250-500 words)

Submission does not guarantee acceptance. All submissions will receive an editorial review with suggestions for improvement.

The idea for this anthology is rooted in recent observations:

• Many of the problems in our world stem from (mostly white male) leaders who decided to codify their control over women and anyone considered different by writing rules and stories in the patriarchal voices of male gods and created religions.
• The stories and voices of goddesses (even if only metaphorical) were rewritten or silenced because of the fear of feminine power.
• The complexity of the problems we face in the world today require new approaches, that might be found in the stories and attributes of goddesses and divine femininity (including creativity, collaboration, empathy, etc.)

This is not intended to be simply a historical or mythological retelling of goddess stories, although there will be short introductions to the goddesses that appear. Rather, the hope is to create a collection of works that challenge the god-voices that dominate today, and allow the goddesses to reemerge.

I want to ask questions like:

What would the world look like if the goddesses had never been silenced?

What would the goddesses do to save our planet after we have destroyed so much?

What solutions do the voices of the goddesses offer to make change in our world?

A NOTE ABOUT GODDESSES 

Many of the goddesses from pre-history (or pagan) times fought for justice, freedom, and the right to live life as they chose. They protected women and children, demanded the right to their own sexual being (including the right to remain virginal, have many partners, or be gender fluid), and fought against the injustices laid over the weak by the powerful. They also protected the natural world, recognizing that all things have natural cycles that support one another. These are things that I choose to fight for in this world—the right to choose our own paths, regulate our own bodies, protect our environment, and live fully and creatively as individual members who are also responsible for a larger natural community.

The search for the Goddess (both individual and communal) comes from an urgent need to recognize that humans are on a path to self-destruction of both humanity and the earth. It is time to reunite our divided pieces in order to survive. "

DETAILS

• Publishing: This will be published under the imprint of Spark Collaborative Media, with support from Bublish (a self-publishing platform for authors).
• Financing: We will be seeking support from appropriate grants, and/or create a fundraising campaign for the project. Contributors will be asked to help spread the word about any fundraising in order to help raise enough funds. To produce and promote the book to a wider audience may cost $10,000 or more.
•  Contributor Payments: We are firm believers in artists getting paid for what they do. Part of Spark Collaborative’s mission is advocating for a more creative economy, and more respect for creators. It is our intention to be able to pay something to all contributors. At this time, we commit to the following:

• • Contributors will receive one paperback copy of the book, as well as one electronic copy.
  • Contributors will get name recognition whenever possible in publicity.
  • When we set up book signing events and you are nearby and want to participate, then any contributor who is there will get an equal split of the profits from that event.

Themes

• Tentative themes I've been thinking about (may change based on the submissions):
  •  Justice & Wisdom;
  • Silenced Voices,
  • Liminal Goddesses (life, death, crossroads, transformation)
  • Nurturers
  • Fierce Defenders & Warriors
  • The Powers of Destruction and Creation
  • Claiming Bodily Autonomy & Sexuality.
• For a chart that introduces these lists with suggested goddesses and modern connections, click to this post 
• I hope to have a minimum of 20 contributors (it will depend on the length of submissions and number of visuals).