Trish Hopkinson Interviews our Editor-in-Chief About All Things OyeDrum and Open Call for Volume 3!

 

 

ANNOUNCING VOLUME 3’S THEME AND OPEN CALL!

Read our interview with Trish Hopkinson, where our Head Witch, Amarantha, talks all things Oye – who we are, what we love, and what we want to see for Volume 3! And if you’re a writer or poet, Trish’s resources and opportunities listings are a must.

Here’s part of the interview.

OyeDrum is “an online magazine and intersectional feminist collective. We are a community dedicated to women’s creative and intellectual work.” You can read more about the name OyeDrum here. They feature a quarterly themed issue from a selection of curated work, and a weekly section open to all genres. They are accepting submissions for their forthcoming issue with the theme of “SEX” and are seeking “visual art, performance art, short films, spoken-audio pieces, creative fiction and nonfiction, poetry, hybrid work, photo essays, graphic novels, and more by women and witches of ALL ages and ALL walks of life.”

I love the aesthetic of their site, so I interviewed Head Witch/Founder Amarantha da Cruz to find out more. See my interview with da Cruz and a link to submission guidelines below.

HOPKINSON: Tell me a little bit about OyeDrum.

DA CRUZ: OyeDrum Magazine has grown and evolved a bit since we started. We publish diverse inter-generational creative female voices from all walks of life. We want people who are emerging or established, and even those who do not necessarily come from the arts but have something to say or something cool to share. For example, we’ve now had two neuroscientists publish artwork that stemmed from their scientific research.

HOPKINSON: How/why was OyeDrum originally started?

DA CRUZ: While pursuing my MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York, I took a class called Experimental Hybrid Poetics: Questions of Meaning, where we experimented with both form and “meaning,” through observing and creating works that juxtapose a literary language with a multi-media form, expanding my mind to different possibilities. The classroom happened to be women only, and, luckily, it was a group of very talented and friendly women. We shared some of our most honest work with each other, giving each other encouragement and constructive criticism within a safe and supportive environment, always leaving the classroom inspired by the female artists we learned about, and by each other. During the semester, we were encouraged to submit our work for publications, but it was a bit of a struggle to find publications that accepted the type of work we were doing. I also noted that there was a divide between art, media and literary publications.

As the semester was coming to an end, I was trying to figure out how to translate that experience to outside of the classroom, and so began the idea of starting an artist collective with those ladies. Eventually I realized that I didn’t want to limit the experience or exchange to just us. I wanted to discover who else and what else was out there. I am a nerdy woman with a wide-range of interests, and many of my friendships are based on mutual nerdy-ness, including with my beloved fellow intellectuals on the team. So I wanted to meet and find other women out there who, like me, maybe don’t fit into one box, or who also have a desire to read, hear and see interesting things being produced by fellow women that speaks to them. A magazine seemed like the perfect solution to finding those women, and sharing their world with others.

 

Women’s ability to talk about sex and our own sexual desires are still largely influenced by our patriarchal-based society. We want to emphasize that we are accepting all types of work connected to the subject, and want to know how the writer/artist individually interprets sex. We’re not only looking for MeToo or Inner Goddess pieces.

For the rest of the interview click here!

Below you’ll find the guidelines for submissions. 

We are seeking visual art, performance art, short films, spoken-audio pieces, creative fiction and nonfiction, poetry, hybrid work, photo essays, graphic novels, and more by women and witches of ALL ages and ALL walks of life. OyeDrum is committed to presenting diverse and inclusive work from those just getting started in their careers, as well as those who are more established.

 

We welcome all sorts of interpretations and depictions of our SEX theme: humorous, serious, personal, dramatic, romantic, scary, etc. While we don’t require your work to be feminist in nature, we do encourage it.

 

NEW Deadline: October 9th, 2020

 

Creative Writing/Essays

Please clarify the genre of your work on the subject line. Send us up to two pieces, no more than 5,000 words each, doubled-spaced. Submit your work in a Word document attachment. 

Poetry

Please send up to 5 poems. Submit your work in a Word document attachment. 

 

Visual Art

Photography and art submissions will be accepted as both solo pieces, as well as to accompany the literary work we’re publishing. Send a minimum of 5 images in a single submission—they should work together as a set, as well as a narrative piece. Please send all images as attachments in PDF or JPEG format, high quality. 

 

Media

We accept pieces sent through SoundCloud, Vimeo, Youtube, and Spotify. If your visual or audio piece is uploaded through a different third party, please contact us to see if we can work with it. Media work that’s been previously published is accepted. For fine artists, please include your medium (i.e. acrylic on canvas, oil, etc.).

How does the submission process review work?

Our quarterly volume submissions are reviewed by our collective, a diverse and talented panel of female jurors (The Coven), each with a unique and distinct voice and approach. Submissions are discussed amongst the team, then voted on in a democratic fashion. Our reading period for the next volume is September 15th, 2020 through October 5th, 2020.

PLEASE SEND ALL SUBMISSION TO SUBMIT@OYEDRUM.COM

 

GENERAL GUIDELINES/FAQ

  1. All submissions (except for media) should be original, unpublished work. However, if the piece has already been published in your personal blog or another small publication, we will consider it on a case by case basis.   
  2. Can I submit if I’m gender non-conforming female or a trans woman? Yes.
  3. Please include a brief bio in the body of your email, along with your social media info. 
  4. We also ask that those submitting artwork let us know a little bit about your work and the piece you’re submitting.
  5. Please let us know if you are sending us a simultaneous submission.

 

OTHER INFORMATION

  1. If you are accepted by OyeDrum, we have the right to publish your work and promote it on our social media.  You, the creator of the work, will remain the one and only owner of your intellectual property, with full rights. 
  2. We try to respond to each submission within a reasonable period, but due to the volume of submissions we receive, we may not always be able to do so. Please query after three weeks if you have not heard back from us, and would like to know the status of your submission. 
  3. Our finances do not permit us to pay contributors at this time.

 

If you have any questions/concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at submit@oyedrum.com

 

Deadline: October 9th, 2020