You might be familiar with one of these famous sentences:
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. – Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, Tr. Edwin and Willa Muir
Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity and ruin. – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
The way her body existed only where he touched her. The rest of her was smoke – Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
Maybe the purpose of my life is for my body, my sensations and my thoughts to becoming writing, in other words, something intelligible and universal, causing my existence to merge into the lives and heads other people – Annie Ernaux, Happening
Home, vehicle, site of desire – the body. We dance, sing, perform, write, play, cuddle, feed, nurture with the body. We hold health and sickness in the body. We judge the size, shape, color of bodies, of parts of bodies. We hate, buy, sell, and violate the body. We terrorize the other by threatening their bodies.
What is the ideal body? What are the normal abilities of the body? We watch the body. The bodies of babies grow within the bodies of their mothers.
How does the body store memories, trauma, joy?
What is our relationship to the bodies of those who have passed?
How would you write the body? Your own, someone else’s, another species’? How have artists, writers, sculptors rendered the body in their work?
What is the relationship of the body with space – home spaces, workplaces, public places?
What happened to women’s bodies through space and time? What happens to all bodies through space and time?
The December issue of the Usawa Literary Review is themed, Body. Interpret it, make it your own. And send your writing to us, won’t you? Follow these submission guidelines as follows:
Guidelines:
i.) Mention SUBMISSION - 'Genre' in the subject line of your email.
ii.) Send your submissions as attached Word file, font Garamond, font size 12.
iii.) If you are submitting artwork please send us a high resolution image with your signature or watermark.
iv.) Please send in your works to the respective Editors:
Submit 1-4 poems to our Poetry Editor, Vinita Agrawal, at vinita@usawa.in
From the December issue onwards, Usawa will be publishing unpublished poems only. Poems that have been shared on the author’s social media will be acceptable. If you have work that resonates strongly with the theme, but has been published online or in print before do share the same with the Editor stating why you would like the piece to be considered. The body of editors will review it collectively and take a decision accordingly.
Submit short fiction of length up to 5000 words to our Fiction Editor, Babitha Marina Justin, at babitha@usawa.in
Submit your translated works to Kinshuk Gupta at kinshuk@usawa.in. Please ensure that you have the original author’s consent.
Send Book Reviews to our Books Editors, Ankush Banerjee, at ankush@usawa.in
Submission Guidelines for Book Reviews
Submit non fiction of length up to 5000 words to our Non Fiction Editor, Shobhana Kumar, at shobhana@usawa.in
For any other queries please write to our Editor at smita@usawa.in or our Associate Editor at kinshuk@usawa.in
v.) Write your ~80 word bio in third person in the email body of your submission. Do send your photograph, and your social media handles too.
vi.) We neither offer payment for acceptance, nor provide feedback on the pieces that we decline.
viii.) You can submit up to one submission for each genre in a given submission period.
ix.) Last date for submission: Midnight 31st August, 2023, IST.