February 4, 2022

Call for Submissions: The Black SWANA Issue

by Lamia Abukhadra | in Literary

This issue comes after two years of global uprising against racism, fascism, and settler colonialism. Following the murder of George Floyd, we witnessed a powerful demonstration of solidarity with Black life and in defense of Black lives within our Twin Cities community. We also began to recognize and reckon with the role Arabs play in anti-Blackness and anti-Black violence within the wider legacies of colonialism and imperialism. While we celebrate the histories of solidarity between Black and Arab decolonial movements, we must also understand that the struggles of Black SWANA (South West Asian and North African) people are absolutely intertwined with the extended SWANA community. 

For our winter 2022 issue, guest-edited by Safia Elhillo, we are seeking works that demonstrate the infinitely varied and kaleidoscopic nature of the Black SWANA experience. The work itself does not have to be about the Black SWANA experience— rather, through the range of themes, forms, genres, and voices, we hope to assemble an issue that serves as a platform for critical exchange between authors and as a record of the current moment as it pertains to the Black SWANA experience. 

Mizna is committed to showcasing the nuance within the SWANA region while continually expanding its meaning. We aim to go beyond inclusivity, and instead strive to reflect the multiform realities within our communities. In this issue, we are interested in focusing specifically on work by people from Black SWANA communities and their diasporas, to create a gathering space for our voices and ideas. Given the distinctive histories, languages, realities, and cultural legacies that exist within the Black SWANA community, this issue asks what political, aesthetic, and cultural futures are possible when we gather together? What traditions does our work follow, and what traditions can we create together? How do we find our way to each other and build there? What gentler world can we imagine for ourselves? What language(s) can we conjure together from the particulars of our intersections? What language(s) can we break open to make room for our names? 

We are open to possibilities of developing new forms and concepts, to being challenged and surprised by insightful, thought-provoking work. Literary works of poetry, visual poetry, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, comics, collage, invented forms, and any forms of mixed print or hybrid work will all be considered.

Those submitting work should identify as Black, as we seek work that is not simply of relevance to or in dialogue with the social realities of the Black SWANA community but coming from within it. Submitters may also decide to expand these social realities. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, though we ask to be notified as soon as possible if the submission is accepted elsewhere. There are no submission fees. Full submission guidelines available here.

Selected contributors receive a $200 honorarium, a one year subscription to Mizna, and five copies of the issue.

Submissions are due Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 11:59pm CT.