We want your comics! Here’s a call for submissions for the next two issues of ParaVox, our international anthology magazine for anti-racist comics and texts.
Both have deadline Feb 15, 2027.
ParaVox #5: ECOCIDE
This is about our place in the world we inhabit. What relationship do we, as humans, have to nature, and which alternatives have we forgotten? What does the future look like, considering the depletion of fossil fuels, the handling of nuclear waste and the potential redirection of the Gulf stream, melting ice caps and other things that’ll bring great changes to the climate?
When land, forest, water, minerals and entire eco systems are commodified, what does it even mean to talk about our ”relationship” to nature?
What does it do to our collective psyche when environmental destruction is used as method for warfare? Why are the places with the most natural resources so often the same places that pay the highest price for others’ extraction of those resources? Is it possible to have an equal exchange with nature within the logic of ownership? How can we reevaulate our relationship to the planet and the eco systems we are part of? And what can we do when the energy lamps and the paper straws don’t lessen the effects of the overproduction of global corporations and the datacenters of tech giants?
Deadline: Feb 15, 2027
ParaVox #6: ERASURE
Making deals with a counterpart who doesn’t see you as fully human is doomed to fail because they will only respect their end of the bargain while it suits them. It’s how colonial powers have acted throughout history and it’s still repeating today, but it doesn’t end there. The same mechanisms also come with erasure.
Who is erased from history and who gets to be remembered? What happens to a people’s collective memory when their names are distorted, the names of their places are exchanged or appropriated? When literary archives are destroyed, when ruins and monuments are bombed or demolished?
What happens to a people’s potential for resistance struggle when the its conditions are transformed and redefined? What choices are left? After decades of decolonization, there’s still work to be done: to preserve, recreate and rebuild your culture, to make paths for freedom beyond the dehumanization logic of oppression…
Give us your comics & texts about this subject, preferably from colonized/decolonized perspectives. Discuss the colonial mechanisms, what’s been lost, what remains and what can be restored. What ways can be used to abolish the lingering and pervasive imperial/colonial mindset before it destroys us?
Deadline: Feb 15, 2027
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Check our statement of purpose for a general idea of what we’re looking for, but don’t feel too locked by it.
COMICS
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 1-12 pages, but any page count is welcome and will be considered.
Format: 19 x 27 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK (profile: PSO coated V3, or you can send it in RGB and we’ll convert it)
Bleed: 5mm. If you’re not completely sure how to handle bleed, check this guide from our friends at CBA to make sure you know what we mean.
TEXT ARTICLES
We will also publish a small number of text articles, and will consider anything that fits into the theme.
Length: A good size for a text is ca 6000 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Questions? If anything is unclear when you’re preparing your files (format, resolution, bleed, etc), feel free to ask us! Stupid questions are always better than bad files (and there are no stupid questions)!
Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (or download links from your domain, etc).
Please send us high-resolution files from the start. This saves time and our deadlines will often be pretty tight.
Include a short bio, with one URL (if you have a website, social media etc). Preferred length: 300-500 characters. Write in 3rd person. Should be more entertaining/informative bio, rather than boring CV. Let us know if you for some reason want to be anonymous and/or have a preferred pseudonym.
Exhibition permission: We will probably organize exhibitions showcasing sample pages. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose. If you don’t say otherwise, we will assume that it’s ok.
Policy on generative AI: We do not accept submissions that are created using generative AI.
Payment: To be upfront, we can’t normally promise more than a small symbolic sum, if even that, since we’re a non-profit organisation that is dependent on public funding. When the budget period is finished and our expenses have been summed up, whatever’s left in the magazine budget will be shared among all participants. This means that we can’t know in advance how much we’ll be able to pay during any given year. We hope for your understanding and that your inclusion in ParaVox will be a pleasant experience in all other ways.
Artist copies: If we publish your submission you will receive 5 free copies of the issue.
Copyright: Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands. We don’t demand exclusivity, but feel free to let us know if your comic is also published somewhere else.
Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)tusenserier(.)org
We will do our best to reply to all submissions. If yours is selected, we will definitely let you know.
Feel free to share this call for submissions to any comics creator you think would be interested!
