Quaranzine issue 5 is looking for creative pieces on the subject of MENTAL HEALTH (see below for submission details). Deadline 11 Dec.
Dear Friends,
Who could have predicted, when we started Quaranzine, that we would make it to a fifth issue? And yet here we are, still greeting you from the inside during our lockdown 2.0, a full eight months since the UK imposed its first restrictions.
We can all agree it’s been a bumpy ride. As we’ve explored through each of our issues, the pandemic has disrupted our relationships, our professional lives , as well as our very notion of free time. Our lives have been transformed so wildly and each of us is inhabiting such different realities that to even speak of a “new normal” feels trite. The only norm we know of now is uncertainty.
But to what extent can such drastic changes, a constant state of uncertainty, and an indefinitely prolonged isolation impact on our inner lives? This time we take an introspective turn. As we get closer to the winter festive season amidst our second lockdown - a time of the year many of us already struggle to cope with (see: holiday blues, seasonal depression, SAD) - we felt it was important to dedicate this issue to the still much misunderstood topic of MENTAL HEALTH.
This time round we're looking for thoughtful, personal, poignant, funny, witty, investigative and informative pieces that relate to the theme. Specifically, we’re interested in the following:
- Short stories
- Poetry
- Essays
- Features
- Interviews
- Photo essays
- Playlists
- Illustrations
- Comic strips
We’d like to present a spectrum of experiences that show how individuals and communities have been coping with the reality of the pandemic. We are interested in perspectives from people who have been shielding, or are living with vulnerable friends; anyone who has experienced grief as a result of the pandemic; drastic lifestyle changes and their effects; strategies and/or resources to look after your mental health during these turbulent times.
We might consider such questions as: does talking about mental health during a pandemic make you a COVID denier?; What specific aspects of lockdown/developments in the last year have affected mental health? How is the provision of mental health care being affected by the pandemic? Has lockdown increased our solidarity with our neighbours, or resulted in greater social atomisation? How has your substance use changed under lockdown?
Interested poets, please send one long poem or up to three short ones that relate to the theme. Everyone else, please send us a brief summary (1-2 paragraph) of what you’d like to contribute. (All prose should be under 1500 words.)
Please send all submissions and pitches to quaranzinezinezine@gmail.com by December 4th (deadline for pitches) or by December 11th (deadline for finished pieces) with the subject line “QUARANZINE ISSUE 5” and feel free to forward this call to anyone you think would be interested.
Here are some keywords to inspire you:
Community, outreach, kindness of strangers, resilience, exercise, self-reflection, self-love, self-help, strength, weakness, balance, money, mood swings, talking about it, shutting down, reaching out, lockdown, isolation, loneliness, job insecurity, relationships, uncertainty, NHS, medication, therapy, community, distance, societal breakdown, free time, work from home, digitisation, nature, socialising, grief, loss of control
You can also search the following hashtags for content inspiration: #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #selfcare #selflove#motivation #seasonaldepression #lockdown #mentalhealthmatters #mindfulness #healing #positivity #covid #therapy #meditat
Replies3
- Sounds great, I'll draft a pitch!
- Look great i'd love to get involved!
- Looks interesting. I'll write and submit something. Thanks for sharing.
You must sign up or log in before you
add a comment.