Call for Submissions
The Quaker Youth Book Project of Quakers Uniting in Publications (QUIP) will feature short, multilingual, non-fiction prose, poetry and visual art by international young Quakers, approximately between the ages of 15-35, from all branches of the Religious Society of Friends, including programmed, unprogrammed, conservative and evangelical traditions.
The creative work included will focus on the personal spiritual experiences, beliefs and identities of contemporary young Friends. We will actively engage the questions, concerns, joys and life transitions of teenage and young adult Friends and envision the book as both a resource for them and for monthly meetings and churches striving to understand and support the needs of their younger members. We aim to create a book that will spark discussion and dialogue, speak to and lift up growing youth movement, ministry and leadership in Quakerism, and act as a catalyst for growth and renewal within the Religious Society of Friends. The book will be edited by an editorial board of young adult Friends from all branches of the Society and all over the world.
The editorial board is interested in well-crafted pieces of writing and art, but above all we are interested in openness, sincerity and honesty, and are excited to hear what younger Friends have to say. For ideas or suggestions on what to write about, please see the suggested topics and questions on the reverse of this flyer.
Submission guidelines:
Friends ages 15-35 are invited to submit up to five pieces of writing and/or visual art. We encourage Friends to carefully select the works they submit. Membership in a Quaker meeting or church is not required.
Though the primary age range for this project is 15-35, we will also accept pieces from Friends who fall outside of that age range but identify as a teenage or young adult Friend.
All submissions should include the name, address, phone number, e-mail, and Friends affiliation of the writer and/or artist. A short, two sentence biography of the writer/artist is optional.
Prose, essays etc. should be approximately 200 to 2000 words, to a maximum of four typed pages. Handwritten pieces are also welcome. Poems should be a maximum of 100 lines.
Visual art such as paintings, collage, photographs, etc. should be submitted in their original form or as a digital scan or photograph with a minimum quality of 300 dpi (dots per inch). Digitized images are preferred but not required. All original works of visual art will be returned to the artist after the selection process has been completed. Visual art will be reproduced in black and white in the book.
Friends are invited to submit written pieces in whatever language they feel most comfortable. The editorial board will be working with submissions primarily in English and Spanish, but we are confident we will be able to provide translation services for most languages spoken by Friends.
Submissions will be accepted until February 28h, 2009
Submissions should be sent to quipyouthbook@gmail.com or mailed to:
Quaker Youth Book Project of QUIP
1216 Arch Street #2B
Philadelphia PA 19143
In some instances, editorial board members may also receive submissions and writing workshop leaders and others may collect submissions if they are in communication with an editorial board member or the project coordinator.
Contact Angelina Conti, project coordinator, with any and all questions at:
quipyouthbook@gmail.com
Suggested topics and questions to consider:
At its first meeting in April 2008, the editorial board developed a long list of questions for consideration and inspiration. Those questions are divided here into three sections, which may or may not be reflected structurally in the finished book. Given the diversity of the Religious Society of Friends, some of the questions may not apply or appeal to everyone. Feel free to write about any that interest you and ignore those that don’t. Also feel free to interpret them as you see fit, both in scope and medium. These are topics the editorial board is excited about, but please do not feel limited by them.
What it means to be a Friend in the wider world today: culture, technology, faith in practice
- How does your faith inspire you to act within your own community and/or cultural context? With what concerns (environment, political issues, war, poverty, etc) does your faith compel you engage? When confronted with violence and injustice, how does your faith compel you to act?
- How do you live faithfully in a society that may not share your values? How far will you go for what you believe? How are you working for change in your own community?
- Are there ways in which you are using modern technology to express your faith or develop your faith community? Are there ways in which modern technology impedes your spiritual development, faithfulness or practice? If so, how?
- How have you trespassed, and how have others trespassed against you? (See Mathew 6.12: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” and “Perdónanos nuestras deudas, como también nosotros perdonamos a nuestros deudores.”)
Individual experience: mysticism, faith, conversion, prayer
- How do you pray? How important is prayer in your life?
- What role does worship play in your life and what does it look, sound and feel like when you worship with Friends? How do you choose who you worship with? How does worship bring you closer to the people you worship with?
- What are some of your experiences of the Divine? How do you integrate visionary experiences with modern life?
- How does God find and touch you? How have your experiences with the Divine/God/Jesus/Inner Light changed/saved/transformed you? How is God still working on you?
- Describe your conversion experiences, or how you became a Friend. If you grew up a Friend, how have you come to identify as a Friend? Have you made a choice to do so?
- What is your experience with discerning spiritual gifts, callings or vocations? How have you responded to your calling?
- What role has faith played in the big decisions and changes (work, education, relocation, family) in your life? How does Quakerism relate to marriage in your society? How does your faith relate to your sexuality? How does your faith manifest in your daily life?
- How do you listen for the Inner Voice? What does it sound like?
Where we are going as Friends?
- What do you value about history of the Religious Society of Friends and how does that affect your faith today? How are you and your Friends’ community similar to and different from historical Friends?
- What are your (positive, negative, or neutral) experiences with the diversity of Friends today? What have been your experiences with conflict, reconciliation, cooperation, and healing within your Friends’ communities and within the wider world of Friends?
- What has been your experience of being a young person within the Religious Society of Friends? What are your hopes for the future role of young people within the Religious Society of Friends?
- How do you relate to or partner with other local and global religious traditions?
- How have friendships with both older and younger Friends affected your spiritual development? Do you make use of the organizational structures and individual Friends in your community (clearness committees, pastors, elders, accountability partners, spiritual advisors, trustees) in supporting you in times of change? How do you cultivate ministry work in your greater society?
- What are your hopes for the future of the Religious Society of Friends?