September 17, 2021

Call for Positions: Mizna Black SWANA Takeover

by Lamia Abukhadra | in Literary

The winter 2022 issue of Mizna will be a Black takeover issue. Centered on the Black and Afro-SWANA communities in the Southwest Asia + North Africa region and diaspora, the issue will be both collaborative and reflexive in its editorial process and as a finished product in order to amplify Black voices, work, and modes of creation. 

In order to maximize the use of our platform as a space of creative and critical exchange for Black voices from and within the region, Mizna is framing this process of building our summer issue as a “take-over”—a process that we hope will open the gates between our literary programs and the plethora of Black talent in our orbit. We imagine this issue to be an all-Black production, enlisting an all-Black team of readers, editors, a visual art curator, and a layout designer who will work in collaboration with and supported by Mizna staff. This project will be led by the acclaimed poet Safia Elhillo, who will serve as Guest Editor. Safia has articulated her vision for this issue in the call for submissions here.

We will consider applicants who are based outside Minnesota, US, where Mizna is headquartered. Applications are due December 31, 2021 at 11:59pm CT. Please refer to our list of roles below, and if interested, fill out the corresponding application:

Curator of Visual Art

The curator selects the visual art for the issue, and coordinates the pieces and accompanying text. The candidate must have a working knowledge of the work of Black and Afro-SWANA visual artists. To submit an application for this position, click here.

Skills Required: 
-Background in visual art curation. 
-Experience with publishing visual art in print publications is a plus.

Layout Designer

This position calls for a print designer to implement the editorial vision in the look and feel of the printed journal issue. To submit an application for the position, click here.

Skills Required:
-The designer should have experience working with nontraditional text and visual art, and a working knowledge of Adobe InDesign. 
-Competitive candidates will have experience taking a project from design through printing, working with the printer to ensure a high quality outcome. 

Associate Editor 

This position calls for working closely with the Guest Editor to implement her vision for the issue, including a focus on programming related to the issue and website content. The associate editor will oversee the production of the issue, working to adhere to the project timeline and coordinating with the team to work toward completion of project elements. The associate editor will participate in selecting works for this issue and will work directly with contributors to communicate edits, share proofs, etc. Competitive candidates will have strong experience in editing and publishing as well as familiarity with the landscape of contemporary SWANA literature and Mizna’s work and vision. To submit an application for the position, click here.

Skills Required: 
-Strong communication skills; a love of reading;
-Publishing project management; 
-Background in editing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, experimental writing, and essays. 

Copy Editor 

This position calls for copy editing and overseeing revising, fact-checking, and proofreading through the production and printing process. A competitive candidate will be someone who works from a praxis that balances adherence to style and an understanding that language evolves and has political and cultural weight. Participating in the selection of work for the issue is not a requirement, but we imagine it would greatly benefit the copy editor’s engagement in this project. The competitive candidate will have familiarity with the landscape of contemporary SWANA literature and Mizna’s work and general organizational vision. To submit an application for the position, click here.

Skills Required: 
-Previous experience in copywriting required. 
-Sharp eye for detail, a love of reading;
-Familiarity with Chicago Manual of Style; 
-Familiarity with publishing transliterations. 
-Familiarity with Arabic language is a plus.

Assistant Editor

This is an administrative assistant position, whose roles include creating spreadsheets, organizing submissions, and sending out letters and contracts. The competitive candidate will have familiarity with the landscape of contemporary SWANA literature and Mizna’s work and general organizational vision. To submit an application for the position, click here.

Skills Required: 
-Experience with organizing large amounts of information; strong communication skills, self-directed and resourceful; 
-Ability to identify tasks to be done and complete them; coordinating payments; 
-Working knowledge of software including Google Sheets and Docs, Excel, Word, and Adobe Reader, and document management programs like Dropbox. 
-Participating in the selection process is not a requirement, but we imagine it would greatly benefit the associate editor’s engagement in this project.