CALLforWork

WITNESS POST Series		CALL for SUBMISSIONS
American Ghost: Poets on Life after Industry \|Lillien Waller “A spectre is haunting Europe,” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote of communism in 1848, just as the second Industrial Revolution was gaining steam. More than 160 years later, the United States, too, has its ghosts. The social and economic fallout from late twentieth-century deindustrialization was accelerated by the recent financial crisis and manufacturing cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Baltimore, and more have all experienced unprecedented joblessness, poverty, and depopulation. Much media propose that, perhaps, this is all there is—all that can be known about cities that once constituted the center of American industry. Images of these cities, often depicting desolation, decline, and so-called urban ruins, are paraded before the US and global public very much as spectres—phantoms of a former glory. The editor of the collection American Ghost: Poets on Life after Industry seeks poetry submissions that respond to and reflect on life and community in the wake of this period of deindustrialization. The poems should look beyond elegy and nostalgia toward cultural, social, political and, yes, personal sustainability. We seek poems that do not merely make images of ruin but that envision and speak to the (complicated, difficult, simple, joyful) humanity beyond ruin. We are particularly interested in writers whose work, either by heritage or affinity, comes out of the still culturally vibrant and various traditions of American so-called rust belt cities, workers, and families. We seek hope and resilience, certainly, but not without the hard-earned insights that accompany them—as when Detroit poet Robert Hayden wrote “Let vanished rooms, let dead streets tell. Of death. Of loving too.” We are also interested in reviewing work from smaller or lesser-known locales whose stories may have been overlooked by the nightly news but that nonetheless pursue survival and sustenance after industry. The new deadline is October 1, 2010. Please send no more than 5 poems, in 12 pt. type. One poem per page. Paper submissions only. All email submissions will be discarded without being read. Include a stamped postcard if you would like notice of receipt. Include a SASE for notification of acceptance. Manuscripts will be recycled. If your work is selected, we may request additional poems for inclusion in the collection. Women and people of color are encouraged to submit. Address submissions to: Lillien Waller, Editor American Ghost Ansonia Station P.O. Box 230705 New York, NY 10023
WITNESS POST Series features works by those who are dedicated stewards of sustainability. The geological term, witness post, refers to a signpost “placed on a claim line when it cannot be placed in the corner of a claim because of water or difficult terrain.” Our culture makes reclamation and sustainable land practices extraordinarily difficult. The writers and artists in this series bear witness to this complex task; their claims help us work toward awareness and action. To book readings,CONTACT lorijo@alum.rpi.edu

American Ghost: Poets on Life after Industry |Lillien Waller

“A spectre is haunting Europe,” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote of communism in 1848, just as the second Industrial Revolution was gaining steam. More than 160 years later, the United States, too, has its ghosts. The social and economic fallout from late twentieth-century deindustrialization was accelerated by the recent financial crisis and manufacturing cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Baltimore, and more have all experienced unprecedented joblessness, poverty, and depopulation. Much media propose that, perhaps, this is all there is—all that can be known about cities that once constituted the center of American industry. Images of these cities, often depicting desolation, decline, and so-called urban ruins, are paraded before the US and global public very much as spectres—phantoms of a former glory.

The editor of the collection American Ghost: Poets on Life after Industry seeks poetry submissions that respond to and reflect on life and community in the wake of this period of deindustrialization. The poems should look beyond elegy and nostalgia toward cultural, social, political and, yes, personal sustainability. We seek poems that do not merely make images of ruin but that envision and speak to the (complicated, difficult, simple, joyful) humanity beyond ruin. We are particularly interested in writers whose work, either by heritage or affinity, comes out of the still culturally vibrant and various traditions of American so-called rust belt cities, workers, and families. We seek hope and resilience, certainly, but not without the hard-earned insights that accompany them—as when Detroit poet Robert Hayden wrote “Let vanished rooms, let dead streets tell. Of death. Of loving too.” We are also interested in reviewing work from smaller or lesser-known locales whose stories may have been overlooked by the nightly news but that nonetheless pursue survival and sustenance after industry.

The new deadline is October 1, 2010. Please send no more than 5 poems, in 12 pt. type. One poem per page. Paper submissions only. All email submissions will be discarded without being read. Include a stamped postcard if you would like notice of receipt. Include a SASE for notification of acceptance. Manuscripts will be recycled. If your work is selected, we may request additional poems for inclusion in the collection. Women and people of color are encouraged to submit.

Address submissions to:
Lillien Waller, Editor
American Ghost
Ansonia Station
P.O. Box 230705
New York, NY 10023