WE WANT stories about PROVENANCE; where the past reaches out and informs the present.
WE WANT pieces that carry PROVENANCE; where the choice of paper and ink or fabric and thread carry meaning that echoes in and outside of the story itself.
WE WANT pieces that are HANDMADE; that carry the indelible mark of mankind writ into their pages, words, their individual characters, down to the serifs, even the creases and the tears.
This anthology isn’t about finding efficiency or the greatest audience or SEO. It IS about tracing the hiSTORY of a tale and delighting in the rhymes across media and form.
TO BE CLEAR, we will NOT accept any work that came from a printer, or that’s emailed to us. The work needs to be HANDWRITTEN in block, cursive, calligraphy, whatever odd jig your hand dances to. Feel free to question the boundaries of form and media.
WHEN TO SEND
January 1, 2027 – July 1, 2027
WHAT TO SEND
We’re looking for art in the written word. Send us fiction, poetry, essays, etc, in any genre.
The CALL is for written pieces that reflect on PROVENANCE. It can be as intimate as a poem about a first kiss or as grand as a cyberpunk detective finding out he’d been hired to fail. It could even be an essay about the various owners of a pencil, written with that pencil, or a haiku scrawled onto the side of a surfboard in sharpie. But, all of it should carry a history, in the pen, in the paper, in the names, in the callbacks–it should carry PROVENANCE.
PLEASE include an additional document with contact details (ie name, email & snailmail addresses) and any additional details about the piece that fall outside of the story and the medium its told with; think of it as a cover letter that might go into your process on the paper used, how you ground up and charred bones to make your own ink, or just the style of cursive employed. Use the cover letter to provide context, not to pitch an idea.
WORD COUNT
We’re aiming for a mix of formats anything from a micro to a short will rest on equal footing. No minimum, but do bear in mind that this is an exploration of art in the written word. As for maximums, please only send a total of 2,500 words. It can come in the form of a single short story or ten micros or a half-dozen poems, all we care about is the total word count.
AI POLICY
Do we need to say it? Have we been unclear? We DO NOT want ready-made, off-the-shelf slop.
WHERE TO SEND
Snailmail your works to:
TBD
Postage costs will not be reimbursed.
WHAT YOU GET
Payment, if accepted, will be a copy of the printed anthology; be sure to include your physical address with the submission.
HOW TO CONTACT
admin [at] provenanceanthology [dot] com
THE SMALL PRINT
Please do not pitch us your piece, just send it.
We will request a bio and First North American Serial Rights upon acceptance, contact & contract to be sent via email, so you better include that in your cover letter.
By submitting, you grant us a one-time right to reproduce your piece in this anthology; you keep your copyright and the rights to reproduce it will be relinquished by us six months following publication.
By submitting, you grant us a life-time right only to the physical piece; photos of these pieces will be incorporated into the bound print runs of the anthology and sold. Pieces will not be returned.
Simultaneous submissions are fine, just let us know if your piece is picked up elsewhere.
We do our best to respond to each submission. If you haven’t heard back in 6 months, reach out to admin [at] provenanceanthology [dot] com. Please don’t resubmit.
Contracts will be sent out following acceptance.
