Call for Submissions: Louisville Anthology

Belt Publishing will be compiling an anthology of essays about Louisville in 2020 as part of our City Anthology Series.

What is Louisville’s identity in the 21st century: Is it the Southernmost Midwestern city, the Midwestiest Southern town, or somewhere in between? Living on the border of two regions creates a hybrid sensibility full of contradictions that can be difficult to articulate beyond “from Louisville, not Kentucky.” So what does it mean to live in a blue dot in a red state? How does Louisville engage with its history while looking forward? How do people work, learn, eat, fight, and grow in ways that are uniquely Louisville’s?

We are looking for stories, reflections, poems, and reported essays from the city that evoke the place in compelling ways and seek to provide some insight to both locals and visitors or engaged outsiders into Louisville’s complex identity. Submissions can be related to a specific place, event (personal or historical), or personage, and must take place in or around the city. Pieces set in the immediate Southern Indiana neighboring towns will be considered, as will the metro area suburbs, if the material engages with the city in a meaningful way. Let’s keep the bourbonism in perspective.

Submissions should retain their relevance for years to come. We are actively looking for stories from Louisville’s African American, Latinx, Asian American, immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, so please circulate. Stories that have a specific perspective and point of view, in which something happens, something changes, and/or something is lost or found, will be prioritized.

Authors can submit multiple pieces. We will accept previously published pieces, but the author must include the original publication information and have the rights to the piece. Accepted submissions will likely be edited in coordination with the author.

The anthology will be edited by Erin Keane, Louisville-based author of three collections of poems, former Courier-Journal and WFPL arts journalist and current Executive Editor at Salon.

Submissions are due by July 15, 2019.

To submit an entry, please:

-Include author’s full name and contact information (phone, email, address and 3-4 sentence bio).

-Indicate where the author lives/where the piece takes place (i.e. Shively, Chickasaw, Hurstbourne, Smoketown, Okolona, Fern Creek, etc.).

-Write “SUBMISSION” on the subject line.

Submit all entries and questions to: LouisvilleAnthology@gmail.com.

SPONSORS:  Interested in underwriting or sponsoring this book? Email Publisher Anne Trubek at [email protected].

-Nonfiction essays between 300 and 5000 words.
-Poetry related to Louisville.
-Space pending, we may publish longform pieces over 2000 words. Query first.
-No Fiction, sorry!

Contributors will receive an honorarium.