Proposed themes for 2022/2023’s upcoming issues
Vol. 35 No. 4 – Early January, 2023
Theme: Personhood
Submission due date: November 15, 2022
Personhood
The concept of personhood covers a lot of ground, and struggles over recognition of personhood are as heated today as they have been historically, as vast swaths of the population and the planet were subjected to the dictates of colonialist expansion and exploitation.
Indigenous worldviews of the land and waters, the sky, sun, moon and stars, the trees, plants and rocks, the birds, fish, insects and animals (humans included) – and all that lies beneath the earth and the waters – as part of “Our Relations” and “personhood” are going toe-to-toe with corporate “moral persons” in a protracted fight to protect the environment and prevent ecocide. In 2021, the Magpie River in Québec’s Côte Nord became the first in Canada to be granted legal personhood status, as a collaborative initiative of the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the regional county municipality of Minganie.
At the other end of the political spectrum, anti-abortion groups in Canada and the US are mobilizing to win legal personhood for fetuses. From reproductive rights to guardianship of the land and waters, personhood is a highly-charged topic.
Montréal Serai is calling on writers, artists, poets and activists to share your vision, insights and stories for our “Personhood” issue.
Vol. 36 No. 1 – early April 2023
Theme: Latin American art and poetry – retelling the story of a continent that never needed to
be discovered
Submission due date: February 15, 2023
Theme descriptionEuro-narcissism is such – and is so powerful – that for centuries, books and histories
insisted on addressing the lands on our side of the Atlantic as “new” or “discovered.”
Meanwhile, the voices and vantage points of those “conquered” or harassed by the 16 th –
century Iberian intruders, their descendants and, since the 19 th century, the independent
States with their homogenizing (genocidal) nationalisms, have found countless ways to
assert themselves.
Every time the issue of Latin American/Latinx/Latino identity comes up, debates about the
celebration of syncretism and mestizaje arise. But how can the ongoing colonial violence
and extraction that have led to the diverse, wounded and powerful forces we are today be
reconciled?
To the artists, filmmakers, poets, writers, fighters, thinkers who express themselves as
human (and historical and political) beings born in the (not only) Spanish and Portuguese-
speaking Americas, or affiliated in whatever manner with any of its cultural universes, we
invite you to share your work.
Please send your original, unpublished work by February 15, 2023 to:
submissions@montrealserai.com. See our Submissions page for details.
Vol. 36 No. 2 – early July 2023
Theme: Gender identity, binarism, and quantum entanglement
Submission due date: May 24, 2023
Theme descriptionGender identity, binarism, and quantum entanglement
Montréal Serai is calling on writers, artists, scientists, poets, activists and other imaginative individuals, however they identify on or off the gender continuum, to share their vision, insights, essays and stories for our “Gender identity, binarism, and quantum entanglement” issue.
In exploring this theme, our intent is not to suggest a link between quantum physics and gender identity. However, we are curious about what we might learn from the evolution of knowledge around quantum mechanics, the study of subatomic particles and their behaviour, and how, at a conceptual level, that that might also enhance our evolving understanding of gender identity.
Historically, binary categories have remained pervasive in our understanding of the universe. On the one hand, quantum physics shows us that particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously, seemingly in contradiction to the so-called classical “laws” of physics. On the other hand, as our understanding of gender identity evolves, we see that the binary male/female is also a false construct in that gender can be seen as a continuum and that individuals do not necessarily identify either as male or female and may even place their gender identity outside such a continuum.
In both contexts, the advances in our understanding based on research and experimentation challenge our existing notions of objective reality. In quantum physics, one of the concepts to emerge would suggest that the mere act of observation can change the behaviour of particles, lending a subjective element to their study that is dependent on the observer. Similarly, the evolution of our understanding of gender identity challenges the male/female binary by recognizing that the intersections of a myriad of social and cultural constructs (beyond biological sex) influence the development and the expression of gender identity.
Scientists, writers, and artists, each in their own way, are helping us enhance our understanding of both quantum physics and gender identity, some finding fascinating comparisons and parallels along the way, while simultaneously dismantling the underlying binary structures:
“It gives me great hope that even the subatomic particles that make up every inch of me and my universe are as fluid as my intersectional experiences of reality.”
Amrou Al Kadhi (Glamrou), writer, performer, filmmaker and author of Life as a Unicorn: A Journey from Shame to Pride and Everything In Between, in Newsweek, 2020
“The emerging picture that denotes ‘girlness’ or ‘boyness’ reveals the involvement of complex gene networks—and the entire process appears to extend far beyond a specific moment six weeks after gestation when the gonads begin to form.
[…] arguments about innate biological differences between the sexes have persisted long past the time they should have been put to rest.”
The Editors, Scientific American, 2017
“Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger have each conducted groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated. Their results have cleared the way for new technology based upon quantum information.”
Nobel Prize Press Release, 2022
“Entangling binds certain states of particles, like spin or polarization, but traps knowledge of those states in a murky and bizarre situation called “superposition.” When entangled, a particle’s state is considered to be, for example, up, down, or both.”
Dave Mosher, Business Insider, 2017
Montréal Serai invites writers, artists, scientists, poets, activists and other imaginative individuals, however you identify on or beyond the gender continuum, to share your vision, insights, essays and stories for our “Gender identity, binarism, and quantum entanglement” issue.
Please send your original, unpublished work by May 24, 2023 to:
submissions@montrealserai.com.
Vol. 36 No. 3 – early October 2023
Theme: Grief, Art and Ceremony
Submission due date: August 15, 2023
Theme descriptionTo come
Vol. 36 No. 4 – early January 2024
Theme: Blues, Jazz and Beat as fugitive literature
Submission due date: November 15, 2023
Theme descriptionTo come
Guidelines
Montréal Serai is always soliciting new ideas and materials from outside its geographical purview, on arts/culture/politics. Articles should be well written and not exceed 3,000 words.
We accept reviews of all kinds, covering arts, politics, culture, music, literature and film. We also accept political cartoons. We’re open to new information and regard every submission with the utmost respect.
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See Submission Guidelines below.
Submit to: submissions@montrealserai.com
Comments in general: talkback@montrealserai.com
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P.O. Box #72,
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Submission Guidelines
Montréal Serai welcomes your own original, unpublished submissions of art, cartoons, prose, poetry or fiction. Written submissions may not exceed 3,000 words. Audio and audio-visual components are welcome. Submissions published on your personal blog may be considered if you identify them as such and provide appropriate links. Serai reserves the right to reject any submission that does not meet its standards or mandate, and will not entertain violent or sexually explicit material or material that does not respect human dignity or that offends minorities on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disability or personal beliefs.
A maximum of eight photographs will be allowed in the case of visual art in jpeg, pdf and tiff files. Videos should be in mpeg format and compressed. Submissions should be made in the body of the email or in an attachment thereto. Snail-mail submissions are also accepted and must include an email address for acknowledgement and urgent communication. Photographs and texts will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. If the contributor is found to have violated Montréal Serai guidelines, the submission will be withdrawn from the issue.
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Montréal Serai is a digital magazine with universal, free access. Readers may request a free subscription for advance notifications. Although the editorial team volunteers its time, we make it our priority to pay contributors with the remainder of funds from grants from the Canada Council for the Arts (after operating expenses are taken care of). Ex gratia honoraria are provided at the discretion of the editorial board for accepted and published work.
Although we welcome experiments in language and deliberate lapses, contributions will be subject to rigorous standards of editing.
Submission deadlines are stated above. Publication begins at the beginning of April, July, October, and January. Additional articles might be posted in booster issues depending on submissions received.
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Copyright on original pieces published at Montréal Serai remains with the contributor, with two provisos:
- If reprinted elsewhere, a note crediting original publication at Montréal Serai should be included.
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- Right to refuse interviews: A person may refuse to participate in a discussion or interview. Montréal Serai does not require that any reason be given.
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Our website serves as an archive of the work done by Montréal Serai. Any submission will thus be archived for posterity.
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Montréal Serai may sometimes provide a link to websites that do not share its editorial view but provide useful insights. Montréal Serai is not responsible for the content on these sites.
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(i) all of the Work shall be wholly original, except as to matters within the public domain
(ii) none of the Work shall infringe upon or violate the rights of privacy or publicity of, or constitute defamation against, or violate any common law or any other rights of, any person, firm or corporation.