Call-out - Social Transformation as an Act of Love

Submit now to The SHIFT Journal for our second edition of Social Transformation as an Act of Love. 

Last year for our inaugural “love letter” edition, we focused on time: the here and now, the once and never was. This year, we’re looking for love letters related to home, place, and land.  

What does it mean to love a place that’s imperfect, or even antagonistic? This can be a homeland, a motherland, or the land upon which you’ve settled. Where and how do we build better infrastructure (physical or emotional), or create pockets of joy and care, that help us love a place through hostility? What do we yearn for, wish for, or fight for, in lands that we’ve left or still inhabit? How do we love a home even when it doesn’t love us back?  

Submission Guidelines: 

We’re looking for love letters (can be in a traditional or non-traditional format) to homes and lands. These letters can be addressed to homes of all sizes, from a house to a municipality, to a country, to a land more imagined. We especially wish to read letters that chart or explore “paths forward”, as it relates to changing systems, justice and equity, and sustainability. We will accept 12-16 letters, depending on the lengths of our chosen submissions.   

• 25-500 words 
• French or English 
• Writer must be based in Montreal 
• Format is open: we accept traditional letters, poems, prose 
• We are open to receiving original or pre-published works