Submissions

sx salon: a small axe literary platform publishes literary discussions, interviews with Caribbean writers, reviews of new publications (creative and scholarly) related to the Caribbean, and short fiction and poetry by emerging and established Caribbean writers

We invite submissions of:

  • short reviews of recent creative literary works by Caribbean authors (1,000-1,200 words)
  • short reviews of recent scholarly works related to Caribbean literary studies (1,000-1,200 words)
  • short interviews with Caribbean authors and/or literary scholars (2,000-2,500 words)
  • Short discussion essays that engage issues relevant to Caribbean literary studies (2,000-2,500 words).
  • Poems and short fiction (maximum 4,000 words) that engage regional and diasporic Caribbean themes and concerns.

We publish three issues per year and accept submissions on a rolling basis. Please review the style requirements below before submitting.

 

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Format: Manuscripts should be single-spaced with automatic 12pt separation between paragraphs. Times Roman at 12 point is preferable. Please keep reference notes at a minimum. If your text has notes, please use footnotes and follow our Style-sheet for formatting.

Manuscripts should be accompanied by author contact information (name, email address, phone number and, if applicable, institutional affiliation) and a short bio (approximately 50 words).

For English submissions, sx salon typically uses American spelling though British spelling is also acceptable. Caribbean Creoles are also acceptable provided they are accompanied by suitable glosses or translations. For purposes of consistency, Small Axe has developed a lexicon of frequently used words. The Lexicon is to be found at the end of the Style-sheet.

Permissions: Contributors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reprint any material (if the article contains images, please see guidelines below). Similarly, it is the responsibility of contributors to supply the source of all previously published material.

 

REVIEWS

Reviews should be preceded by information about the text in the following format:

Full name of author, Title. City: press, year of publication; number of pages; ISBN number (format).

Example:
Marlon James, The Book of Night Women. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009; 448 pages, ISBN 978-1594484360 (paper).

 

INTERVIEWS

Interviews must begin with a short paragraph that includes information about the interviewee and the date and general purpose of the interview. The first question must be preceded by the full name of the interviewer and a colon, in bold. The first response should be preceded by the full name of the interviewee and a colon, in bold. Subsequent questions and responses should be preceded by initials and colons, in bold.

 

DELIVERY

ALL interview and discussion essay submissions and inquiries must be sent electronically to Rachel L. Mordecai at rlm@smallaxe.net. Review inquiries should be sent to Ronald Cummings at rc@smallaxe.net. Any poetry and short fiction submissions and inquiries must be sent to Danielle LeGros Georges at creative@smallaxe.net.

 

GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPTS WITH IMAGES/ILLUSTRATIONS/ARTWORK

If a manuscript with visual images is accepted, the author is expected to provide reproductions for the essay. All photos/images/illustrations must be supplied as digital files at 300 dpi [JPEG, EPS or TIFF]. Please supply largest files possible.

Request for Permissions: All copyright permissions to reproduce images in sx salon must be cleared and if necessary paid for by the author. It is also the author's responsibility to include acknowledgements as stipulated by particular institutions. Authors of accepted articles should utilize the following letter: Request for Permission.sx salon cannot publish images without proper permissions paperwork. A copy of the full set of reproduction permissions must be submitted with the final version of the article. sx salon cannot publish images without these permissions.

Captions: Captions should include all elements specified in the letter(s) of permission from the rights holder, institution, and/or photographer, but generally should be supplied in the following format. [Please note: captions in sx salon must distinguish clearly between a copyright in an artwork and a copyright in a photograph of an artwork (where the artwork may or may not be in the public domain).] If the image concerns original works of art, please see full guidelines for Small Axe submissions