Thursday, May 13, 2010

One Opportunity

This doesn't work for me, but it might work for you. Good luck!

NATURAL WOMAN NATURALIZED CITIZEN

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

We invite moving and well-written stories, poems, and memoirs on the following theme:
What happens to our understanding of ourselves and our place in society when we make the decision, as an individual and as a woman, to commit ourselves to a different social structure from the one in which we were raised? We are especially interested in the experiences of women who have chosen to become U.S. citizens and the impact this conscious commitment has had on them and their families. Does it change what has felt to us to be natural, unquestioned, in our own upbringing and development - or that of our daughters?

Some of us come to the States intentionally, desirous of and prepared for citizenship, some of us find ourselves here because we love someone else (parents, sibling, or spouse) who has that clear intention, or we come because we are escaping something worse and have been placed here, willy nilly, as refugees or economic migrants. Whatever the route to this decision, at the point we become a citizen we are making a choice and a commitment that are now uniquely our own. We not only engage with but are committed to the promotion of certain values that may fit us as poorly as borrowed clothes or as close as a second skin.

Here are some dimensions we invite you to explore:
What were the key steps in your own journey to citizenship? Did some, or most, of them take place after you became a citizen? What changed in your thinking, your assumptions, your hopes and your goals on the way? What people and events had decisive impact on your choice to become a citizen?

What do you as a woman wish to preserve of the customs and social arrangements of your culture of origin and why? How do you reconcile these customs and social arrangements with the core American assumptions of individual equality and the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

What makes you feel like a full American citizen with equal rights with native born U.S. citizens?

What makes you feel like a natural woman, in tune with your own deepest drives and priorities? Do these have anything to do with the values of the countries in which you have held citizenship? Are they in any way related to citizenship itself?

What have you learned about being a woman and about citizenship from your own mothers? If your mothers have made decisions around citizenship themselves, how has their journey been similar to, and different from, your own?

Who understands what you are going through? Who doesn't have a clue?
How, so far, have you used your vote?

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Deadline: AUGUST 1, 2010
We make final editorial submissions on all submitted manuscripts only after the submission deadline.

Electronic submissions only.
Word or RTF.
Prose ≤5,000 words. Poetry ≤5 poems.

Payment in copies

Submit manuscripts electronically:
naturalwoman@universaltable.org

No comments:

Post a Comment