This is the third anthology from the Beyond Series by Laberinto Press. This Call for Submissions invites contributions on the theme of green spaces and olfactory experiences.

Parks as ecological sites exist within an urban and governmental plan that delineate their function and existence. The environment itself exerts its own meaning and rhythms on the idea of the park. Spending time in a park stimulates our senses, in particular the sense of smell. The aroma of pine and linden trees, the ground under our feet, or the water from a fountain, a lake, or a river, activate our olfactory memory. Thanks to the sense of smell, we bring back forgotten moments, unearthing experiences lodged deep in our subconscious.

We identify ourselves with multiple ecosystems; their aromas permeate our memory. In turn, this convergence informs our living, real or ideal spaces. Climate change, growing deforestation world-wide, and greater population density make green spaces sites of refuge.

From the literary point of view, the submission will emphasize olfactory imagery, while the content will relate to the environment, migration, and climate change. We invite immigrant writers, to express themselves on their connections between the idea of green spaces, and all things olfactory. How do we understand our experience of nature in our countries in combination/opposition to the Canadian context? What effect do these encounters have on us? What is our first olfactive memory from our arrival in Canada or from our place of birth?

What other ecological spaces can we conceive in our cities?

Submission Guidelines:

We are inviting hyphened Canadian writers of immigrant background, regardless of their status.

We accept texts written in French or English translation.

We will accept one contribution per author. The text will have between 1,300 and 2,600 words (Times New Roman, Size 12, Double Spaced).

We accept all genres, except for poetry, unless it is integrated within the text of the submission.

The submission deadline is December 30th, 2022 at 10:00 PM. Late submissions will not be considered.

The submission process will result in the selection of 9 (nine) final pieces.

If their contribution is selected, the authors accept they will be working through the line, structural, and copy-editing process with the corresponding editors.

Submit your contribution to:

C/O Editors: Beyond the Park Anthology
Luciana Erregue: erregue@ualberta.ca
Ángel Mota Berriozábal: angel.mota@sympatico.ca

In a largely primarily anglophone and Anglo-centric publishing industry, Laberinto Press is Western Canada’s first press to publish writers whose first language is not English, and World Literature in translation (focusing right now on tapping into diaspora authors living in Canada).

I am uniquely positioned as a Canadian-Argentinian writer and editor with knowledge of the Canadian literary world. I spotted the need to produce literature by culturally diverse writers that do not pander to tokenism, but touch on the true diversity, multiplicity, and complexity of the human experience.

There are many writers like me in Canada, waiting to have their stories published in English, who want to share their stories, background, and international networks with the Canadian public, now more culturally diverse than at any time in its history.