Over the past two years, we’ve been publishing the Are.na Annual, a book of essays, interviews, and other contributions by members of the Are.na community. Our first Are.na Annual (2020) was about the past, present, and future of the internet, and our second was a collection of writings around the theme “tend.” For the latter, we opened it up for pitches, and we got so many good ones that this year we thought we’d do the same. We hope you’ll consider submitting.

We’re looking for essays, interviews, or other forms of writing that take their root in one of your Are.na channels.Submissions should fall loosely under as in an opening or point of entry, in the form of a website, gate, door, or hatch; an approach; a way to get or do something, a portal to. We’re also open to your own interpretation—think of the theme as more guiding than prescriptive. 

We’ll choose from the submissions and work with you to develop a short piece around your channel, expanding upon the connections, assemblages, and ideas held within. For example, last year R.C. Clarke wrote about “Southern electronics” and grassroots technologies, stemming from his channel of the same name. Rona Akbari and Weeda Azim had a conversation about Afghan diaspora and film representation from their channel Khorasan Dreamscapes, and Shea Fitzpatrick and Madeline Hsia wrote a poem out of playlist prompts.

Your writing will be published in the Annual in December, and also in some capacity on the Are.na blog. Published authors will be offered a $100 honorarium.

Here’s how to pitch your idea for the Annual: 

1. Choose a channel that you’d like to expand upon in a piece of writing OR create a channel expressly for this purpose. (If you don’t already have an Are.na account, you can sign up here: are.na/sign_up.)

2. Use the theme “portal” to guide you in your selection. A portal, as in an opening or point of entry, in the form of a website, gate, door, or hatch; an approach; a way to get or do something, a portal to.

3. Write a short paragraph detailing what you’d like to write about. What’s the main idea and how does it relate to the theme? Why are you interested in writing about it? What format do you envision it taking? No particular writing experience is required, just a strong idea and willingness to collaborate / work with an editor. 

4. Fill out this form to send the paragraph and a link to your channel by and we’ll respond shortly thereafter. Feel free to share with anyone who may be interested!