In a time when the shifting political and cultural landscapes of our world are becoming increasingly authoritarian, restrictive, intolerant, and frightening, we have decided to dedicate The Charcoal Issue to fairy tales as forms of resistance and protest.
A remnant material left behind after a fire, charcoal is also a source with which new fires are created. So, too, is the way of resistance—born from the heat of difficulty and tragedy, but also the fuel we use to light the way forward.
For the coming issue, we are most interested in fairy tales that challenge the current political climate, fairy tales that resist outdated norms or binaries, fairy tales that reconfigure the faults of older stories, and fairy tales that expose abuses of power. Fairy tales with, as Kate Bernheimer has suggested, “radical strategies of survival. Ways to get out alive.”
Fairy tales that resist domination. Fairy tales that protest annihilation.
Submissions will be open from January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2017. The Charcoal Issue will be published in early 2018.
Full guidelines are available on our submissions page. Submissions can be made through Submittable.