About These Wilds

Canadice Press, in collaboration with Little Lakes Community Center’s Voices Across Lakes, is excited to announce that submissions will be open from November 13, 2024 through February 13, 2025 (at 1300 hours–1PM) (previously January 13) for These Wilds  (Owl Light Literary No. 2), a literary and visual arts journal.  “These Wilds” will celebrate the wildness and wonder of New York State – with an open interpretation of the theme encouraged to encompass both rural and urban settings!  As such, submissions will be open to New York State Residents only.* Ten or more authors and one guest illustrator will be selected for publication in These Wilds. 

These Wilds will be guest edited by Tina Crossgrove (she, her). 

Tina Crossgrove recently returned to the wilds of the Finger Lakes Region after a decade of exile in South Florida. She’s taught writing for almost a decade and a half. When she accidentally fell into this “gig” all those years ago, she wasn’t sure she could hack it (stage fright is real!) but discovered a passion for helping others explore and embrace their creative selves.  She has taught creative non-fiction courses in the past, where her motto is “fact is crazier than fiction.” If you let her, she’ll talk your ear off about two things: travel and her beloved fur family.  Her artistic passion for writing is rivaled only by her passion for pottery.  Tina’s not sure what her next steps are, but she’s really excited to reconnect with her Upstate New York roots and looks forward to taking an active role in helping to bring artists’ voices into the light.

Each selected author will receive print publication in These Wilds and a minimum $50. honorarium. A selected cover artist will receive a minimum $200. honorarium and will have their art featured on the journal cover (full color) and inside pages (B&W) of the journal.  Selected contributors will also receive a copy of the published print journal, ongoing online promotion, and an invitation to attend a recognition celebration and share their work at Little Lakes Community Center, Hemlock, NY in July 2025.

Supporting writers and artists strengthens local communities and small presses are a vital component of this initiative.  Offering publication opportunities to unpublished and emerging authors that allow their voices to be heard— while encouraging and inspiring future generations of writers—has been an ongoing goal of Canadice Press since our first publication in 2017.  We look forward to publishing our second literary journal and celebrating the selected authors and artist with Little Lakes Community Center and the NYS community.

Submissions:
There is no submission fee.  All entries will be reviewed blind and all selection decisions will be final. Submissions should be emailed to editor@canadicepress.com with “These Wilds Submission” in the subject line. A separate single page doc/docx titled: your title(s)_your name MUST be submitted in the same email as the submission with author/artist’s legal name, title of the submission, e-mail, address in NYS, and phone number. There should be no contact information on the submission attachment(s).

Artists should attach 3-8 images in high resolution.  2-D art should be reproducible in B&W.
Selection will be based on the quality of the artwork and alignment with the theme.
Note: the journal will be 6”x9” with full or half page art included on inside pages.

Some general guidelines that make it more likely we will look at and publish your work:

→ Thoughtful work that offers innovative interpretations and visions of the “These Wilds” theme;

→ Send literary submissions (fiction, creative non-fiction, hybrid) in doc/ docx following all guidelines.

→No contact information on the submission document / image(s) (see above).

→Written submissions should be 2000 words or less (one piece or up to three shorter works totaling 2000 words or less in any genre(s) equals one submission – i.e. three flash fiction, a single short story, or a short, short story and a poem). Hybrid submissions welcomed and encouraged.

→Original writing/artthat is relevant to residents of NYS;

→ 12 point Times New Roman or similar font in black, double spaced (poetry exempted based on style) – what counts is the writing, not how fancy the page looks!

→Edit carefully and well; submissions will be considered as received and no corrections will be allowed.

→If you are sending poetry or hybrid work with non-traditional layout please include a pdf to ensure that formatting is retained.

We will be posting selections from our first journal- Turning Points: Owl Light Literary No. 1 – at OwllightNews.com beginning today and throughout the submission period.  We will provide updates on these postings and on the journal selections on fb@canadicepress.

*Are you eligible to submit work for consideration in These Wilds? We will accept submissions from anyone who is a current year-round resident of NYS.  We may accept submissions from non-residents who have direct ties with NYS through seasonal residency, family roots, occupation, or outreach but do not currently have a legal residence in NYS.  If you do not currently reside in NYS and wish to submit, please elaborate via a short statement on your contacts page, so we may consider your submission.