We are delighted to announce a new call for submissions which is now open! We are looking for short stories for our latest anthology – full guidelines below.

Shared Stories

As we continue to open an ever-widening door to celebrate difference and diversity, and following the global success and resoundingly positive critical reception of Black Sci-Fi Short Stories [2021], Flame Tree is pleased to announce an open call for submissions, inspired by stories of the first peoples in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. From the first migration to the first exploration to the discovery of land and landscape without the footprint of humankind. Stories of injustice will sit with memories of hope and wonder, dreamtime tales of creation and joy will highlight the enduring spirit of humanity.

We are looking for submissions from writers with appropriate heritage, whose stories will be cast alongside ancient origin stories and oral traditions from around the world and will bring new perspectives and attention to the legacy of First Nations, of Indigenous Peoples, of First Peoples. 

The stories themselves can be speculative, fantastic, sacred or folkloric, they can delve into themes including but not limited to origins, colonisation, other worlds, natural ecology and utopianism, they can be challenging and adventurous. We do not require exclusivity and do accept reprints. 

As with Black Sci-Fi Short Stories and our upcoming Asian Ghost Short Stories, we are enlisting and engaging with a team of people of appropriate heritage to collaborate on the book: there will be a Foreword, a thoughtful Introduction, an Associate Editor and a diversity of readers, who will work with us to ensure this book is vital and true to the traditions of First Peoples around the world.

Dr. Eldon Yellowhorn (Introduction) is a member of the Piikani Nation and professor at Simon Fraser University where he teaches Indigenous Studies. He grew up on the Peigan Indian Reserve, attended the University of Lethbridge and later the University of Calgary where he completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Geography in 1983. After working at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump he returned to the UofC in 1984 and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Archaeology in 1986. After he finished his degree, he was a Curator Intern at the Glenbow Museum until 1988. He was awarded a fellowship with the Smithsonian Institution in 1988 and worked on an archaeological site in Colorado. When he returned he started graduate school at Simon Fraser University, where he received a Master of Arts degree in 1993. He started his doctoral studies at McGill University in 1995 and received his PhD in 2002. He was recruited by Simon Fraser University in 1998 to develop the First Nations Studies Program. He established the Department of Indigenous Studies in 2012 and was the first Chair until 2017. His research combines archaeology, history and Blackfoot language revitalization. Books he has co-authored include Turtle Island: The Story of North America's First People, What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal and Sky Wolf's Call: The Gift of Indigenous Knowledge.

Terms:

• Multiple submissions are fine
• Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology
• For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints
• We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline
• Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that
• Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.

Guidelines:

• Submit your story to 2022@flametreepublishing.com
• Word length is most likely to be successful at 2000-4000 words, but we will still read stories slightly outside this range
• Let us know in your submission email whether your story would be a reprint or is currently unpublished
• Please submit in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats, double spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page
• Please include a short author biography in your submission email to introduce yourself and indicate your indigenous heritage
• If submitting a story that has recently been submitted to us for consideration to another anthology, please state this in the submission email
• Deadline for submissions is Monday 18th April 2022
  

Thank you, and good luck!