“It is not the specifics of any one event or set of events that are endlessly repeatable and repeated, but the totality of the environments in which we struggle; the machines in which we live; what I am calling the weather… The weather necessitates changeability and improvisation; it is the atmospheric condition of time and place; it produces new ecologies.” – Christina Sharpe, The Weather
We need to talk about the weather. It was never just boring small talk, but increasingly, the weather is news. For those of us who live above the 49th parallel in particular, changes in season constitute our years, and the weather within those seasons structures our days and shifts our moods and our plans. Weather has always shaped the world here, but the rhythms we have gotten used to are changing, and many of us are now trying to plan for a world where the weather is increasingly unpredictable.
For our ninth issue, the GUTS editorial team is looking for your submissions on the topic of weather. We’re thinking here, also, of the weather as Christina Sharpe describes it: “the totality of the environments in which we struggle; the machines in which we live.” Patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, cissexism, settler colonalism, ableism: these systems can feel so deeply rooted that they’re the air we breathe and the water we drink. But they are not natural: they have been created and renegotiated, and they can change.
Even when we recognize these systems aren’t natural, it can be difficult to envision change, because those who are empowered by these systems have been shaping and reshaping our worlds for so long. While we think we might know some things to be stable, or stagnant, or true, weather reminds us that change can come swiftly.
What is the weather like where you are? We want to hear your report.
Topics to think about:
water; how climate change structures your world; seasonality; catastrophe; environmental racism; reproductive justice; seasonal depression; rape culture; land and water protection; global north privilege; shelter and its lack; seasons; wetness; pathetic fallacy; science fiction; weathering; forecasting; the moon; growing food; resistance, resilience and futures; geoengineering; menstrual cycles; extinction; deserts; mirages; oasis; circulation and migration; adaptation; what it means to be embodied in a high-tech world, and more.
For our winter issue, we’re looking for visual and written essays, interviews, comics, journalism, poetry, and short fiction on the topic of weather, broadly conceived. Depending on the form, pieces could range from 500 to 3,000 words.
Submit a short pitch (no more than 300 words) describing your proposed project by December 3rd, 2017 to submit@gutsmagazine.ca. Please include a link to or copy of a writing sample that adequately represents your work and your ability to execute the project you’re proposing. If you haven’t yet, please look over our past issues to get a sense of the kind of work we’re looking for.
First drafts for pieces that are selected will be due on January 22nd, 2018, and compensation will be provided for contributors selected for the issue.
If you have any questions or comments about the submission process, please email us at submit@gutsmagazine.ca
