SUBMISSIONS-OPEN

General Guidelines

Usawa Contributor Registration: Please fill the form for each submission. All submissions except visual narratives will be made through the form.

Submission Format:

All submissions apart from visual narratives are to be made through the form. Please follow the instructions attached to ensure that your submission reaches us. 

Compose your brief (~80 words) bio in the third person at the end of your submission. Please ensure to include your photograph and social media handles.

Payment Policy:

As of December 2023, Usawa has become a paying market.

Submission Limitations:

You may submit up to one entry for each genre during a given submission period.

Although we prefer exclusive submissions, we understand if you choose to make simultaneous submissions. In such cases, please promptly notify us if another publication accepts your piece before our review. To withdraw your submission, kindly contact the sectional editor and the Managing Editor by email.

Please be aware that any work published in Usawa cannot be reprinted in any other publication, whether online or in print, until six months after the initial publishing date. After this period, we request that you send us a formal intimation and credit Usawa wherever the piece is republished by contacting our Managing Editor.

Editing Policy:

We regret to inform you that minor edits cannot be accommodated once an issue has been published. Only in the case of major errors may you contact our Managing Editor for consideration.

We encourage you to peruse our previous issues and review our monthly newsletters to gain insight into our editorial preferences. You may subscribe to our newsletter here 

http://eepurl.com/iv7LdA

Due to the high volume of submissions and limited staff, we regretfully cannot offer feedback on the pieces that we are unable to run.

Thank you for adhering to our submission guidelines. We eagerly anticipate reviewing your work.

Section Guidelines

Poetry: 

Please submit 4-6 poems.

Usawa will be publishing unpublished poems only. However, poems that have been shared on the author’s social media are acceptable. 

If you have previously published work that strongly resonates with our theme kindly share the same with our Poetry Editor, Babitha Marina Justin, at babitha@usawa.in stating why you would like the piece to be considered. The body of editors will review it collectively and take a decision accordingly.

Short Fiction:

Submit short fiction of length between 2000-5000 words.

While our primary focus is on literary fiction that explores the depth and complexity of the human experience, we are also open to exceptional works of genre fiction that push boundaries and offer fresh perspectives. Bring us stories with emotional depth, vivid characterization, and inventive storytelling. 

Our Fiction Editor, Kinshuk Gupta, can be reached at kinshuk@usawa.in for queries.

Translations: 

Include at least 4 poems or a text ranging from 2000-5000 words for consideration. The translation should be alongside the source text. 

Please ensure that you have the original author’s consent and mention the same in your submission. Include the original author’s short bio and photograph if possible.

Our Translations Editor, Sonakshi Srivastava, can be reached at sonakshi@usawa.in for queries. 

Book Reviews: 

Submit 1000-1500 word book reviews. Reviews can be of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction books.

Submission Guidelines for Book Reviews

Our Reviews Editor, Ankush Banerjee, can be reached at ankush@usawa.in for queries.

Nonfiction: 

Submit nonfiction of length up to 5000 words.

We are looking for pieces that reflect honesty of the experience, personal or from the point of witness. What are you subverting? Why? Send us well-crafted writings, especially essays, or even hybrid pieces, in a way that we look at the world anew even though the facts remain the same. We’re most excited by not only reading about things little known or talked about, but also by pieces that subvert and surprise.

Our Nonfiction Editor, Smita Sahay, can be reached at smita@usawa.in for queries.

Visual Narrative submissions:

Please send up to six-eight stand-alone photographs or photo essays in .jpeg format at 300dpi along with an artist statement or a paragraph about the inspiration behind your piece to our Visual Narratives Editor, Priyanka Sacheti at priyanka@usawa.in. 

We are looking for images which see the world anew, the camera revealing what our gaze sometimes overlooks. There are so many ways of looking and we are particularly interested in those images moving away from and challenging the patriarchal/male gaze. We would also like to see images where the framing of a subject is as much a story as the subject itself.

We welcome both landscape and portrait-oriented images as well as colour and black and white images.

Visual Narratives FAQ

Interview Submissions:

The interview piece should have at least 5-8 questions. Kindly mention whether you have taken the interview in person, by any virtual tool, or through questionnaires. Kindly include a short description of 100 words, highlighting what made you choose the individual.

We are looking for interviews of people from every sphere of the society. Since our world is built with dreams, hard work, kindness, and compassion, our objective is to understand people who embody these traits in their work. Our idea is to acknowledge and celebrate an individual’s contributions towards shaping the society.

Our Interviews Editor, Kabir Deb, can be reached at kabir@usawa.in for queries.