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Submission Guidelines

Jaggery, a DesiLit arts and literature journal, connects South Asian diasporic writers and homeland writers; we also welcome non-South Asians with a deep and thoughtful connection to South Asian countries, who bring their own intersecting perspectives to the conversation. (By South Asia we mean Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.) Our hope with Jaggery is to create a journal that offers the best writing by and about South Asians and their diaspora. Dark, complex, intense—and totally delicious.

We publish art, essays, fiction, poetry, and reviews. We prefer original, previously unpublished submissions; we solicit reprints only in exceptional cases. We accept simultaneous submissions, provided you let us know immediately if your submission is being published elsewhere. We’re purchasing ongoing worldwide digital rights, for use in web and possible downloaded forms (ebook, PDF, etc.). Six months after publication, you may request to have your work removed from our online archive. We follow a blind submission review process for all departments aside from Art, and pay $100 for fiction, and $25 for other prose/poetry/art.


Jaggery Working Calendar

Fall 2021 issue goes live: October 2021
Our next submission period will be from May 15, 2021 to July 15, 2021
Our next reading/evaluation/communications period will be from July 15, 2021 to Sep 15, 2021


When you are ready to submit, please visit our submission system at https://jaggery.submittable.com/submit. Submittable will securely send Jaggery’s editors your work and email you a confirmation that it has been received. If your piece is accepted, we will contact you to request a bio for publication. Once you have submitted your work, you can check the status of your submission by signing onto your Submittable account. We aim to respond to all submissions within three months.

IMPORTANT: We are reading submissions blind, to ensure your work has the fairest reading. Submittable will allow you to include a short cover letter with your work; you may include one if you wish, but it will not be viewed by department editors until after they have read and considered your work. It is important that you strip your name from your actual manuscript. Non-blind submissions may be summarily rejected.


What we’re looking for:

Art

Jaggery seeks original works that are inspired by or capture the essence of South Asia or its diaspora. Photography, painting, digitally designed/compiled works as well as documentation of interesting site-specific installations, ritualistic time-based, and experimental art projects are all welcome. We are also interested in original, imaginative illustrations to feature along with the literary works that we publish. LIMIT: 3-5 images (JPG format, maximum 500K file size per image) We pay a $25 honorarium to each accepted artist.

Fiction

Jaggery seeks engrossing, entertaining, and enlightening fiction from or about South Asia and its diasporas. We wish to showcase fiction that moves minds and hearts, that takes risks in shedding new light on our lives, and is a pleasure to read and reread, from both emerging and established voices. We accept all types of stories, including excerpts from longer pieces. An excerpt should, however, stand alone as a complete work. We strongly prefer stories under 5,000 words, but will consider longer pieces. There is no minimum length requirement.  Payment is $100 / piece.

Note:  We have a small amount available to help with translation costs; please inquire with the fiction editors if interested, or if you have any other questions: fiction@jaggerylit.com

Essays

Non-fiction contributions are invited for publication in Jaggery. Publishable pieces consider the changing, dynamic nature of South Asian society as reflected in its literature and other cultural productions such as art, film, and theatre, as well as more experimental genres and installations. We welcome innovative writing that finds new ways to see traditional issues. We are interested in reflections on identity and process, as well as contemporary ethical, spatial, or social concerns. We encourage an inter-disciplinary approach to cultural productions, reflecting the eclectic ways in which South Asia can be viewed: opinion pieces, literary criticism, interviews, editorial journalism, travel writing, memoir, and creative non-fiction. WORD LIMIT : 1000 – 5000 words. Payment is $25 / piece.

Poetry

Jaggery seeks poems inspired by South Asia and its diaspora that challenge, celebrate, ruminate, and advocate. Poets submitting pieces for consideration need not identify as South Asian or South Asian hyphenates; however, the poems submitted should. Jaggery welcomes original unpublished poems as well as translations of poems written in South Asian languages. SUB LIMIT: 3 poems (10 pages maximum total). Payment is $25 / piece.

Reviews

Jaggery solicits reviews of books on a wide range of subjects pertaining to South Asians, South Asia and South Asian diasporas. We seek fair and unbiased reviews of academic/popular-cultural books (creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry), film, music, and theater. Each review should be addressed to the general reader and should include a description of contents and a critical appraisal. WORD LIMIT: We generally prefer reviews of 1000 words. Payment is $25 / piece.

Note to Publishers / Authors: If you have a book you’d like us to consider for review, and are willing to send our reviewer a free copy of the book (including digital copies), please send us (reviews@jaggerylit.com) the title and brief description, along with your contact details, and we will forward that info to our reviewers.

We are particularly interested in reviewing titles from smaller publishing houses and independent presses. We do try to honor our regular reviewers’ requests for specific books or subjects to review (though not, of course, books written by friends, relatives, or associates). Contributors should not review books written by their friends, relatives or associates, nor should they send copies of their reviews to publishers or authors before submission to Jaggery.


Questions?

Again, please submit via Submittable, but specific questions may be directed to the following:

General: Anu Mahadev, editor-in-chief, editor@jaggerylit.com
Art: Srividya Ramamurthy, art@jaggerylit.com
Essays: Wafa Hamid, essays@jaggerylit.com
Fiction: Atreyee Gohain, fiction@jaggerylit.com
Poetry: Maya Dora-Laskey, poetry@jaggerylit.com
Reviews: Sushumna Kannan, reviews@jaggerylit.com

8 Comments
  1. Looking forward to contributing to and reading the first issue.

    June 30, 2013
  2. DOLA DUTTA ROY #

    “Jaggery ” sounds like a unique attempt to capture the spirit of S. Asian culture and themes. It’s wonderful to see that you welcome submissions from the homeland as well and not just perspectives from afar.
    I’m keen to submit poetry, fiction and art to your magazine and if you think they can add some flavor to Jaggery’s essence, I’d be honored.
    Thank you
    Dola Dutta Roy

    March 8, 2014
  3. Soma Roy #

    I am writing from Kolkata, India. I would like to know if you accept English translations of poetry from Indian languages. Regards.

    November 9, 2014

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