WomanSpeak Calls for Personal Essays, Art and Photography by Caribbean Women

"When a woman tells the truth about her life the world splits open." MURIEL RUKEYSER

WomanSpeak , a Journal of Writing and Art by Caribbean Women, has always been about cultivating and collecting the writing that tells the truth about the lives of women in and of the Caribbean. We are committed to the idea that our personal stories of survival and transformation are the most powerful and political of all. We are especially in search of personal essays by the truth-tellers of our generation for vol. 7/2013 themed, "Voices of Dissent: Writing to Transform the Culture." We especially want essays that confront and challenge the powerful forces at work around us and within us trying to convince us that our womanish lives are not worth fighting for, or that our struggle for equality, enlightenment and empowerment in our own lives and in the world as Caribbean women is not the stuff of fine literature. What is your story? We want to hear it.

We are also calling for submissions of art and photography for the upcoming issue of the journal.  Where are the conscious, political, Caribbean women artists of our generation who dare to make paintings that speak to the political and social concerns we have as women? Yes, it is true, we think, that every stroke of the brush, every sploosh of colour is political, because the creative act is always political, no matter the subject of the art. But these are the days of a new Feminist awakening in the Caribbean, the new movement is in need of not only writers but painters too whose work explores the truth of Caribbean women's lives, the way we struggle, survive, transform, emerge and carry on, we need the images and renderings that express our outrage and then too our visions of hope and renewal. We are in search of images that depict and inspire our new revolution, that connect us to the sacred grandmothers of activism, that will serve as letters to future generations of Caribbean women, so they never forget, we were here, and we put our best creative energies toward making the world a better place for them.

Here are the submission requirements for art and photography. The camera should be set at the highest resolution setting for the largest images. Images need to be at least 2400 pixels x 3000 pixels or 8 x 10 inches at 300ppi resolution or higher. They can be supplied from the camera as jpg's. Please send them in an email attachment to lynnsweeting@gmail .com with WSJ submission in the subject line.

WomanSpeak is also accepting poetry, short fiction and fairy tales. Deadline is April 30.