Student Writers: Your Speculative Fiction Stories Wanted!

The DIAD Speculative Fiction Project is considering new speculative fiction short stories from Dartmouth students for an anthology.  Please read our guidelines in full before sending a submission.

The Design Initiative at Dartmouth, in partnership with the Irving Institute for Energy and Society, is holding an open call for short stories by Dartmouth students.

Theme

We are looking for stories that explicitly deal with climate and energy, and point us towards a better future for humanity by envisioning the possibilities inspired by scholarship at Dartmouth. Some of the areas on which students might wish to focus include climate science and impacts, energy transition pathways and models, climate and energy system challengesand technological solutions, environmental justice, Indigenous energy and climate, Arctic science, climate and health, energy and environmental humanities; and science policy, politics, and diplomacy. Stories that consider the interdisciplinarity of these fields are especially welcome.

Faculty Support

Faculty affiliates of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society will deliver a panel talk on Wednesday, April 26 from 5:30–7 p.m. in theIrving Institute Project Hub (IR 155, Atrium Level) discussing the various themes for this call. Following that, faculty will be offering meetings and support to students wishing to explore these themes throughout the spring '23 and summer '23 terms.

Furthermore, editor Sharang Biswas will offer a Creative Writing workshop on May 23 in support of this call for submissions. Students interested in submitting are encouraged to take advantage of all of these opportunities. Details will be made available. STYLE: We prefer stories with unique and well-formed prose, on the literary end of the spectrum. The stories can be in any speculative fiction genre, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other subgenres, for adult or upper young adult audiences.

Timing

The open submission period lasts from June 15 to July 1, 2023.

Selection

We will select up to four stories for publication, which will undergo a full editorial process led by anthology editors Liz Gorinsky and Sharang Biswas. No rights will be retained for stories not selected for the anthology.

Rights

The stories will appear in a professional speculative fiction publication alongside other authors participating in the Dartmouth Speculative Fiction Project. We ask for print, electronic, promotional, and audio rights for all stories.

Word Count and Rates

We are looking for stories of up to 5,000 words and will pay10 cents a word, based on the story length after initial editing. A reminder that longer stories are not necessarily better; you are encouraged to create as tight a story as you can, without unnecessary padding.

Eligibility

We are looking for stories from current Dartmouth undergraduate or graduate students, Dual-Degree Program students, or exchange students at Dartmouth.

Format

We only accept digital submissions.

Submissions should be sent to design.initiative@dartmouth.edu. Format the subject line of the email as: "SPECULATIVE FICTION SUBMISSION: [Title] by [Author Name]." In the body of your email, please include word count, a two or three sentence synopsis of the story, and send your full manuscript as an attachment in .pdf, .doc, or .docx format.

Exclusivity

Simultaneous submissions are not allowed for this project and we are only looking for previously unpublished work. Please submit your story only to us for the duration of the submissions period. DIAD does not discriminate. We are especially interested in publishing authors from underrepresented backgrounds and stories with underrepresented characters and settings.

Questions?

Please send any questions to design.initiative@dartmouth.edu