Prayers of a Secular World: Submissions Now Open

Submission Guidelines

‘Secular’ has come to connote ‘atheist’ when it means ‘of the world, not of the cloister’. Australia is a secular society made up of atheists and believers, and many of those believers attend church, or temple, synagogue or ashram; many consider nature as their temple, and many simply lean into their god in moments of crisis, or joy, opening their prayer with, ‘It’s been a long time since…’, or they might just say, ‘thank god I got that parking space’, ‘thank god I met you…’, or ‘thank god my house didn’t burn down’.

As traditional religions and rituals fall away prayer, it seems, is left to poetry. Inkerman & Blunt intends to publish a collection of poems that are contemporary prayers; prayers that resonate and are relevant to our secular society.

This collection will be released in May 2015 so we need your poems by Friday 29 August 2014.

We are looking for poems of wonder and celebration, poems that mark the cycle of the day—dawn, midday, evening, night—the seasons, the progression of planets, the evolution of weather; poems of becoming—first steps, first words, transitions, epiphanies and inspirations; poems of belief and of doubt, pleas for protection, poems of remembrance and blessing, of forgiveness and redemption, poems of gratitude.

They may be chants and incantations, invocations and blessings, they may be canticles, psalms, dedications and odes, devotions, anthems and creeds, they could be requiems, dirges, elegies, nocturnes and meditations. They may rhyme or not, or be prose poems. Whatever form they take they will be our prayers, the prayers of a secular world.

GUIDELINES:

• You can submit poems if you live in Australia, or are an Australian citizen living overseas
• You must submit original new work, or work published no earlier than 2010. We want this collection to be contemporary
• You can submit up to 3 poems of no longer than 40 lines 
• We only accept submissions by post to P.O. Box 310, Carlton South, 3053
• Submissions will be accepted if they are post marked on or before Friday 29 August 2014
• Please layout your poems in 11 point font with 1.5 spacing, preferably in sans serif font
• Please send 3 copies of each poem and a separate cover page with the title of your poem/s, your name, phone number, email and postal address. Make your email address clear as we will primarily communicate with you via email.

We are committed to a $50 fee for poems selected in this manuscript plus each poet will receive a free copy of the book. If we secure funding for this project we will offer a higher fee.

All poets will be notified of their acceptance by 30 October 2013. Submissions that don’t follow guidelines will not be considered for this volume, and we reserve the right to select poems that have not been submitted under these guidelines.

 Editors:

Jordie Albiston
Jordie has published eight poetry collections.  Two of her books have been adapted for music-theatre, both enjoying seasons at the Sydney Opera House.  Jordie’s work has won many awards, including the 2010 NSW Premier’s Prize.  She lives in Melbourne. 

Kevin Brophy
Kevin has published thirteen books of poetry, fiction and essays. He teaches poetry and short fiction in the Creative writing program in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. In 2009 Kevin was awarded the Calibre Prize for an outstanding essay. He lives in Melbourne.