Prairie Fire is giving centre stage to women writers over fifty! This special issue is a celebration that honours and recognizes the enormous contribution of living Canadian women writers, who have helped shape CanLit and continue to do so.
If you are a woman, aged fifty and over, have at least one published piece of writing (literary journals, anthologies, books, etc.) and live in Canada (or lived a substantial amount of your life in Canada) then we want to see your unpublished work, as we compile this mosaic of new writing to be released in fall of 2024.
This special issue, tentatively called “50 Over 50” will be guest edited by Katherine Bitney, poet and one of the founders of Prairie Fire Press.
Submission Deadline: February 15, 2024.
GUEST EDITOR: KATHERINE BITNEY
Born in England, Katherine Bitney grew up in Saskatchewan and has spent most of her life on the Canadian prairies. She is a founding member of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild and Prairie Fire . Katherine Bitney is author of four books of poetry, and a collection of essays, and has collaborated as librettist on a choral piece, Cantus Borealis, with composer Sid Robinovitch, which was premiered by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in April, 2011. She has worked as editor, mentor, creative writing instructor, and arts juror for over 35 years in Manitoba, and holds an MA in Religion from the University of Manitoba. Katherine Bitney lives, gardens and writes in Winnipeg.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Submissions for this issue may be emailed or mailed. Emailed submissions need to follow the submission guidelines.
Emailed submissions should be sent to prfire@prairiefire.ca, Subject: 50 Over 50
or mailed to:
Prairie Fire Press
423-100 Arthur Street
Winnipeg, MB
R3B 1H3
THE COVER LETTER
The cover letter should be typed. Be sure to include the following:
***Please state in your cover letter that you are submitting to “50 Over 50”***
–your full mailing address, e-mail address and phone number;
–a two-or three-sentence biographical statement (in third person)
–the title(s) of the piece(s) you are submitting;
–the genre of the piece(s) you are submitting (poetry, fiction, non-fiction).
–your pronouns
THE MANUSCRIPT
Each category counts as one submission. Please please do not send more than one of each type of submission.
Poetry: send a maximum of 3 typed poems, single or double spaced, with your name and address at the top left of each page.
Fiction: send one typed story (maximum length 8,000 words) double spaced, margins of 1.5 inches should surround copy.
Creative non-fiction: send one typed piece (maximum length 8,000 words) double spaced, margins of 1.5 inches should surround copy.
For fiction and creative non-fiction, centre the title halfway down on the first page, with your name below. Include a word count at the top right corner of the page and your address at the top left corner. Please number your pages.
Unlike some of our other special issues, we prefer that the piece(s) you submit for this special issue not be submitted elsewhere. If your piece has been submitted elsewhere, please let us know immediately should it be accepted by another publication. Also, please only send work that has not been previously published.
*** Please make sure prfire@prairiefire.ca and lindsey@prairiefire.ca are added as ‘safe senders’ in your email. We would hate to end up in your spam folder!
Prairie Fire encourages submissions from LGBTQI2S writers, BIPOC writers, disabled writers, and all who are otherwise affected by structural inequality.
