CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Quisqueyanas: Contemporary Writings by Dominican Women
Edited by Erika María Martínez
To be published in the United States in English and in Spanish

Dominican writers are under-represented in literary discourse.  And most literary studies of the Caribbean focus primarily on some male writers of the past century such as Jose Martí.  There is a similar unfamiliarity of female writers in comparison with male writers of the Dominican Republic, yet Dominican women, at home and abroad, have created a space for literary and artistic production.  The body of literature developed by Dominican women depicting the cultural, social and political life of the country, is a testament to the talent of all Dominicans.  Quisqueyanas: Contemporary Writings by Dominican Women, an anthology of prose by women in the Dominican Republic, and women of Dominican descent living in the United States, will strengthen the voice of Dominican women in the world of literature.

This project develops at a crucial point in the history of Dominicans and Americans; during the nineties the Dominican-American population grew by two hundred percent, making it the fourth largest Latino community in the United States. With this growth, the community’s cultural values were often merged with the larger Latino identity. In order to genuinely associate with our numerous parts, it is essential to reconnect with origin-based artists. Writers give a viewpoint that is informed by history and tied to the Dominican Republic, yet at the same time it is affected by the greater American culture. Through a sampling of various Dominican and Dominican-American women’s narratives the literary legacy and unique history of the island will be highlighted in content and style. In addition, it will be evident how the history and the future of the two countries are intertwined. This anthology will be a step in the direction of greater understanding between these two cultures and how each one affects the other as we approach the turn of another decade.

This collection will be unique yet use successful techniques from preceding anthologies.
As in Lillian Castillo-Speed’s anthology, Latina: Women’s Voices from the Borderlands,
the work will include both fiction and nonfiction. Like Edwidge Danticat’s anthology, The
Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, the book will
have a thematic structure according to the contributions received.

Possible themes include but are not limited to:

Family
Feminism
Exclusion
Femininity
Fertility/Infertility
Maternity
Migrations/Immigration
Racism/Prejudice
Silence
Double lives
Politics
History
Work
Relationships
Infidelity
Machismo

Editor:  Erika María Martínez is a Dominican-American writer with an MFA in English and Creative writing from Mills College in Oakland, California.  She is currently residing in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic as a Fulbright Fellow.  Her work has been featured in Colorlines Magazine, The Womanist, Homelands: Women’s Journeys Through Race, Place and Time and in Terror?, an exhibit at the Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco.
Publication:  The anthology will be published through an independent press in English and in Spanish to be distributed internationally.

Guidelines:  Dominican women living on the island or women of Dominican descent living in the United States are encouraged to tell their stories.  Submissions may include fiction, creative nonfiction, personal essays and memoirs.  Please only send unpublished work.  No simultaneous submissions.  Writings submitted will not be returned.

Deadline:  January 31, 2009

Length:  3,000-5,000 words

Format:  Pieces should be typed, double-spaced and paginated.  Please include your mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number and a short bio on the last page.

Submitting:  Electronic submissions are preferred.  Send work electronically as a Word or Rich Text Format file (with .doc or .rtf extension) to Erika María Martínez at antologiaquisqueyana@gmail.com  Put “Anthology” in the subject line.  If e-mail is not possible, mail essay to:

Erika Martínez 1-12682
3508 N.W. 114th Ave. Suite A
Doral, FL 33178

© 2007 Erika Martínez