The Public Sphere seeks submissions for the next issue of our magazine. We focus on cultural matters (see our About Us page for more information about us), and we are looking for essays and art that query public life. For our next issue, we seek essays querying the theme of “health.” Amidst the debate about altering health care in the U.S. and improving global access to health care, what does “health” even mean? What activities, and what peoples, are associated with being “healthy?” How does “health” operate as a discursive category, and how is it related to “health” as a medical category? Are there new ways we can and should approach “health” amidst twenty-first century technological advances? These and other questions are all up for conversation in our next issue. If you are interested in writing for our next issue, please submit your piece via e-mail (info@thepublicsphere.com) in either .rtf or .doc format to The Public Sphere by November 15, 2009. Essays should be no longer than 2000 words. Artistic interpretations should be submitted in .jpg format. Poetry, short fiction, and complexly conceived book reviews are also welcome.

Guidelines for Submissions

Any submission related to the themes of the magazine will be considered. Authors are particularly encouraged to submit work regarding the themes announced for upcoming issues. Submissions should fall into one of the following categories: essays, poetry, short fiction, or artwork. See style information below.

Essays

Essays should be no longer than 2000 words. Essays must be related to the broad themes of the magazine and ideally would be related to the theme of a specific upcoming issue. Submissions without conceivable relevance to questions of cultural life are not encouraged. Essays should be written in a style as congenial to the reader as possible. Avoid: excessive quotes, overly long sentences, technical jargon, and unnecessary digressions. Authors are encouraged to submit relevant images along with their essays, provided that the images supplied do not infringe upon copyrights. Authors who do not have any images to accompany the submission should include suggestions as to what sort of images the editors should procure to go along with the piece. Authors are also encouraged to include links to relevant websites within the body of the essay. Please place the http address of the webpage in parentheses after the word which will contain the link. Also, authors must include suggested key words for Internet search engines. Submissions should be double-checked for spelling and grammatical errors before being sent to the editors.

Poetry

Poetry submissions should be no longer than 250 words. Poetry must be related to the broad themes of the magazine and ideally would be related to the theme of a specific upcoming issue. Submissions without conceivable relevance to questions of cultural life are not encouraged. Authors are encouraged to submit relevant images along with their poetry, provided that the images supplied do not infringe upon copyrights. Authors who do not have any images to accompany the submission should include suggestions as to what sort of images the editors should procure to go along with the piece. Also authors must include suggested key words for Internet search engines. Submissions should be double-checked for spelling and grammatical errors before being sent to the editors.

Short Fiction

Fiction submissions should be no longer than 2000 words. Fiction must be related to the broad themes of the magazine and ideally would be related to the theme of a specific upcoming issue. Submissions without conceivable relevance to questions of cultural life are not encouraged. Authors are encouraged to submit relevant images along with their fiction, provided that the images supplied do not infringe upon copyrights. Authors who do not have any images to accompany the submission should include suggestions as to what sort of images the editors should procure to go along with the piece. Authors are also encouraged to include links to relevant websites within the body of the essay. Please place the http address of the webpage in parentheses after the word which will contain the link. Also authors must include suggested key words for Internet search engines. Submissions should be double-checked for spelling and grammatical errors before being sent to the editors.

Artwork

Artwork submissions must be related to the broad themes of the magazine and ideally would be related to the theme of a specific upcoming issue. Submissions without conceivable relevance to questions of cultural life are not encouraged. Any forms of art will be considered as long as the artistic experience can be effectively communicated through visual images. Artwork submissions should be sent to the editors as .jpg images. Artists should double-check to insure that neither their work nor any of its elements are in violation of copyright.Artists should include suggested key words for Internet search engines.

All submissions should be sent to info@thepublicsphere.com.