Barking Sycamores
There are presently no open calls for submissions.
WHAT WE PUBLISH
Barking Sycamores is aliterary journal entirely edited and operated by queer, neurodivergent people of color. We publish poetry, short fiction, hybrid genre, creative nonfiction, book reviews, and artwork submissions. We also welcome and publish essays about neurodivergence and the creation of literature.
Poetry: Up to 5 poems per submission.
Short Fiction (max 1,000 words per story): Up to 5 stories per submission.
Creative Nonfiction: Up to 8,500 words total per submission.
Hybrid Genre: Up to 8,500 words total per submission.
Book Reviews: Up to 1,000 words per individual review.
Artwork: Up to 5 pieces per submission.
To view our current call for submissions (which includes information about the issue's theme), click here.
A NOTE ABOUT THE TERM NEURODIVERGENT: While typically the term “neurodivergent” refers to people who are Autistic, bipolar or or have similar neurotypes, we at Barking Sycamores do not feel it is our place to define what states of being are or are not considered neurodivergent. Therefore we cannot answer questions as to whether you are considered ND or not. It is very much rooted in identity, and if you’re unsure, we happily point you to this article written by Autonomous Press partner Nick Walker. The simplest definition of the word, first coined by Autistic writer and activist Neurodivergent K is “having a brain that functions in ways that diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of ‘normal’.”
GENERAL GUIDELINES
1) We support neurodiversity. Please don’t send us any work that pathologizes neurodivergence, uses functioning labels, or promotes the supremacy of one type of neurology above others.
2) Submissions must be your own original work. Please do not submit work on behalf of other people (unless you are also a joint author of the work and you have your co-authors' permission). Also, due to potential copyright issues we cannot consider found poetry, centos, art collages, erasures, or similar types of work.
3) We value the voices of neurodivergent and disabled writers and artists, as well as wish to avoid “othering” of disabled and neurodivergent people. For this reason, we cannot consider submissions written about neurodivergent or disabled people from contributors who are not themselves neurodivergent or disabled.
4) We allow simultaneous submissions. However, please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
5) Contributors must be eighteen (18) years of age or older.
6) No previously published work. Previous appearance on your own blog or social media site is fine, we just ask that you take the piece down or make it non-visible during the issue publication period.
7) Work not in English must be accompanied by a translation. If accepted, both versions will be published.
8) Contributors will be paid once their work is included in our annual print anthology. Payment is funded out of the Autonomous Press anthology fund.
9) In all categories of submissions, please include your name, a bio, and your connection to neurodivergence. Feel free to include this information in an attachment or in your cover letter.
PLEASE NOTE: We have updated our policies concerning publication rights.
By submitting you grant us the right to publish your work online in perpetuity in both HTML and single-issue ebook formats, and in our online journal exclusively for 60 days from the date each work appears on our website. In addition, you grant us non-exclusive print and electronic anthology rights.
If you have any questions, please contact us at barkingsycamores@gmail.com.
Thank you,
N.I. Nicholson
V. E. Maday
The Editors