Our reading period for Issue 12 is January 1 - 31, 2010. As the Review is currently an annual, we anticipate publication in January, 2011. Unsolicited submissions received outside the reading period will be deleted unread. All correspondence relative to January submissions, apart from content sent via our submission form, should be sent to madhr.12@gmail.com. With few exceptions, submissions must be previously unpublished in their entirety or finished/final form on any site, including a blog visible to the public. No multiple submissions; one genre only.
Most text genres will be complemented by custom-made audio/musical compositions and artwork. Authors may recite/record their own works or/and collaborate with their own composers, subject to approval by our Music Director. Authors may also provide their own artworks, subject to the approval of our Art Director.
Our focus is on adroit experimentation with form and content. MHR provides a playful forum for the (re)presentation of “political” insights, satirical or intensely tragic. We welcome inventive texts, smashing sounds, and surprising images into our hybrid space. We are not in love with tear-jerking “realism,” Bukowski bar scenes, and “inspirational” rants, and we’re circumspect about totally inaccessible language games written for an elite audience of like-minded writers, as well as writings that go on and on and on without punctuation producing dizzy fits migraines stomach aches tantrums sobbing fits psychotic episodes chronic depression swine flu and occasionally early death. Creations that can’t readily be categorized, and those that break skillfully with expected form or content are what we love best. We also tip our mad hats to surrealism, irrealism, and magic realism, and embrace collaborative works. We bear some respect for classical forms, but only when their craft or content knocks our hats off.
Please send THREE to FIVE flashes, each no longer than 1000 words, preferably closer to 500. We will not consider fewer than three. We will not consider more than five.
Please send ONE short fiction between 1,001 and 4,000 words. What are MHR fictions? Prose pieces that tell stories, in some shape or form, but not necessarily following the generally accepted norms of arc, character development, plot, resolution, etc.
Please send THREE to SIX adroitly experimental, surprising, musical poems (up to 2,000 words total). By “musical” we do not mean tuneful or melodic. Rather, we seek poetry that displays sensitivities to language as a musical instrument, be it (e.g.) Demonatron, Swarmatron, or Gamelon. We do not consider fewer than three, unless you’re offering a long poem, 1000 words or more, in which case, submit only one. It goes without saying that poetry needn’t “look” like poetry (i.e., structured in stanzas).
Please send ONE unconventional, language focused, non-commercial personal essay, artistic memoir sketch (“memfic,” à la Carol Novack), or an intriguing package of ruminations up to 3,500 words. Subjects dealing with cultural topics and psychosocial issues are welcome. Our CNF editor Ann Bogle states: "Creative nonfiction is intensely cumbersome as the name of a literary genre, and yet it must be the best name for it so far. I am using ‘autobio’ to mean that the factual basis in the work ought to be honored by the writer and the reader as true, real, or echt (authentic and factual) and ‘creative nonfiction’ to mean the factual basis or sequence of life events -- not meaning ‘plot’ in fiction -- matters less than the artistry or creative arrangements at play in the work. ‘Creative nonfiction’ may advance mutable positions and boundaries.”
Please send ONE short script, one-act play, or dramatic monologues up to 20 minutes performance or recording/viewing time, and no longer than 4,500 words, if text only. Dramatic monologues, dialogues, and short plays may be sent as recordings or video/digital media forms via the free shareware program yousendit.com. Please indicate that you are sending a file via that program.
Translations from non-English languages into English are welcome. We also like to publish the works in their original language. Follow guidelines for the genre you’re submitting, and include copyright and translated author’s permission statements. We will the translated author’s bio and contact info as well as yours.
Whatnots may be multi-genre works, including visual poetry and loosely narrative texts that defy easy categorization. Say you want to submit a bunch of prose poems that some editors would deem fiction and others poems, and maybe other editors would ask, what are these alien creatures? Well, call them “whatnots.” Whatever and why not? Up to you to label your own work; however, if we decide in our infinite wisdom that a submission isn’t really a whatnot, but a whatis, we’ll let you know. As if we know, eh?
Whatnots also include mashes. If you don’t know what a mash is, read Mad Bunkers’ Review! If you’re mashing bits of works by a live author, you must have her/his permission and state that you have. Sources of words/lines must be provided; copyright laws must be obeyed. You may only plagiarize yourself.
For all whatnots, please follow the appropriate word count guidelines for short fictions, flashes, CNF, and drama, i.e., find the closest genre fit.
Be witty and whimsical and follow the guidelines for whatever genre fits best with your submitted gem/s. Make our wit & whimsy editor at least guffaw. She does it very well.
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Submissions Not Included in Our Online Form:
Send ONE to THREE audio files, compressed MP3 format, to madhr.12@gmail.com via yousendit.com or other shareware program, subject line: audio/s. If you can bundle your submissions into one file, we’ll be ecstatic. 10 minutes max each. Include bio or bios (if the audio is a collaborative work). If you’re using a program such as yousendit, where files are available for downloading for a limited time, send a separate email to remind us of your submission. Subject line: Attention: Music Editor.
From our Art Director, Gene Tanta: Visual artists, please submit up to SIX images of your original works of art (including photography), reflecting and reinventing “the age of dementia.” I am interested in innovative formal experimentation as well as in political interventions or non-fiction documentation in visual forms such as drawing, painting, text-design, digital image manipulation and so on. While my tastes range widely (Hironimus Bosch, Alicia Henry, Barbara Kruger, etc.) and I’m interested in learning, I incline toward the poetic, the ardent, the passionate, the pointed, the powerful, the complex, and the paradoxical. Submit all works as JPEG files. All submitted work is automatically considered for covers, interior pages, and featured galleries. Use the subject line: “Art Submission” and include a short bio (including links to websites displaying or reviewing your work).”
Visual artists wishing to create interpretations of our texts should query with a short bio and at least SIX samples of art (subject line: “Art Query”).
Cartoonists are welcome to submit works that comport with our vision of “the age of dementia.” Political and sociological satires are most appreciated, but of course, we love the whimsical as well. Subject line: Cartoon Query.
Composers interested in contributing compositions to accompany texts and covers should query with a short bio and at least three samples (subject line: Music Query). Send samples via links or yousendit.com. Queries will reach our Music Editor, Visored Burgeonette. ). If you’re using a program such as yousendit, where files are available for downloading for a limited time, send a separate email to remind us of your submission.
Books and Unconventional Online Journals
Please query with a short bio (subject line: “Review Query”) including two or more published reviews (paste texts into the body of the email or provide links). We’ll send you our guidelines if we’re interested. Our priority is to publish reviews of books, spoken word CD’s and DVDs by our contributors, past and present, and we will ask you to write one or two, pursuant to our review guidelines. With journals, we will need to find that they're compatible, to some reasonable extent, with our spirit and sensibility, and preferably, visually stimulating; also, they should have been around for at least two years. We will not consider journals that ask for “reading fees” or preclude simultaneous submissions. Online journals with print versions or complements are fine.
Art, (Independent/Experimental) Film, and Music Reviews
Send completed, unpublished review with a short bio (subject line: Art (or) Film (or) Music Review). We will contact you within 30 days if we’re interested.
If you’d like to write a column for us, please summarize your concept and provide a sample of the column, plus two samples of not totally dissimilar material you’ve published, along with a short bio. Write “Column Query” in the subject line of the email and feel free to provide links to works you’ve published.
SPECIAL FEATURES IN ISSUE 12
Visual Music (edited by Jean Detheux, www.vudici.net) may be described as the art of combining music and moving image into "something" that neither medium can offer on its own. Music can inform images as much as images can inform music. Visual Music manifests its author’s (or authors’) discovery and creation of a novel composition that marries its components in a manner that adds up to more than the sum of its parts. In exploring this Art form, one often encounters two "bad" extremes: one consists of music and images that merely mirror each other in a very literal, redundant way. The other "bad" extreme offers music and images so far apart that they have nothing to do with each other. The components do not inform each other. The paradox of Visual Music is that even if it is very often presented as "New Media," it has been around for a very long time, even predating the invention of cinema by a significant margin. Maura McDonnell has written an excellent article on that subject (pdf document available under the "New Visual Music Essay" title): www.soundingvisual.com. If you feel that your work accomplishes the mission of “Visual Music,” submit up to two.
Please prepare your file/s as follows: QuickTime movies, h.264, "Fast Start," 640 x 480 in 4:3 ratio (largest dimension should not exceed 720 if in 16:9 ratio), Data Rate 2000 kbits/sec. Audio AAC, Stereo, 16 bit, 44.100 kHz, duration no longer than 10 minutes.
Please submit your works directly to our server. For FTP info please send an email to visualmusic@madhattersreview.com (with "Visual Music Submission" in the subject line) and include the following information (feel free to cut and paste):
1. YOUR name; email address; bio - max 250 words.
2. Name AND exact file name of pieces to be uploaded: i.e. Lucy in the Sky, lucysky2.mov
3. Permission to publish email address in Issue 12. YES ___ NO ___
4. Do you wish to include a bio pic? YES ___ NO ___
(edited by Camille Bacos, Jeremy Hight, & Carol Novack)
We are looking for narratives, fictions, word and language games and plays, all sorts of poetic forms, in fragments and entireties. We are looking for visually stimulating presentations, with or without custom-made audio elements, but preferably with. Surprise and delight us! Here are some samples of moving words we love: artport.whitney.org/gatepages/artists/nakatani/new_index.html; slippingglimpse.org/; www.yorku.ca/caitlin/waves/; nmartproject.net/agricola/mpc/volume6/encoded.html. A comprehensive article about what’s broadly referred to as “electronic literature” may be accessed at eliterature.org/pad/elp.html.
Submit up to two works, and please prepare your file/s as follows: QuickTime movies, h.264, "Fast Start," 640 x 480 or 720X480 , for 16:9 use max. 720X480 with letter box , Data Rate 2000 kbits/sec. Audio AAC, Stereo, 16 bit, 44.100 kHz, duration no longer than 12 minutes. We accept flash & window media player formats.
Please submit your works directly to our server. For FTP info please send an email to movingwords@madhattersreview.com (with "Moving Words Submission" in the subject line) and include the following information (feel free to cut and paste):
1. YOUR name; email address; bio - max 250 words.
2. Name AND exact file name of pieces to be uploaded: i.e. Lucy in the Sky, lucysky2.mov
3. Permission to publish email address in Issue 12. YES ___ NO ___
4. Do you wish to include a bio pic? YES ___ NO ___
General information about our Submissions Policies: Simultaneous submissions are permitted, naturally. Why would we demand exclusive possession of one or more of your gems while we’re considering a whole batch of others? Really rude, eh? Of course, we expect that you’ll let us know the moment your submission is accepted elsewhere. In the past, we prided ourselves on speedy responses, typically within three weeks. Now that we’re an annual, you may not hear from us as swiftly as we’d like to make decisions. Feel free to query after 90 days. Send an email with the subject line SUBMISSION QUERY to madhr.12@gmail.com.
One previously unpublished submission per reading period in one category only. Previously published material generally includes websites and journals accessible to the public. Password protected online workshops are fine, but you will have to remove your offerings at the time they’re accepted. We may consider work published in a small circulation print journals or defunct, obscure, un-archived online journals. Be forthright about prior publications, and we may be flexible. Publications on blogs must be removed prior to submission, but do tell us how long they were accessible. If you aren’t forthright, we will find out – sooner or later. One of our editors has Special Intelligence. If you have not read several issues of our journal, including our ABOUT page, please do not submit. There are thousands of journals online and off. One or many of them will adore your style. If you have not read our disclaimer, or do not agree to the terms, please do not submit.
If Your Text Submission is Accepted You may be given the option of reciting your work (if you can offer a high quality recording), providing your own music as an MP3 file, or requesting that one of our composers create an accompanying audio.
Expect the possibility of minor revisions relative to grammar, word usage, and punctuation. Substantive changes will be negotiated.
Unless we’re running a serial, we will not consider submissions by the same authors in consecutive issues. We’re not a club.
Regrettably, we offer no financial compensation. We editors are unpaid working stiffs, but we do have a non-profit sponsor. Donations are always welcome and are tax deductible for American residents and citizens.
DISCLAIMERS
All of the material in Mad Hatters' Review is copyrighted by the author. Unless specifically waived, Mad Hatters' Review retains First North American Serial Rights and First Electronic Rights. Mad Hatters’ Review also retains Electronic Archival Rights and the right to reprint the entire issue in which your work appears in printed, digital, video, DVD, CD, or electronic format. All work published will be reviewed for consideration in any written annual or anthology we may publish, and in any gallery exhibition or reading we may organize. All other rights to works appearing in Mad Hatters' Review revert to authors upon publication. We ask acknowledgement for works subsequently published elsewhere after initially appearing in Mad Hatters' Review. By submitting works for consideration, authors acknowledge that the works submitted are their own original works and are products of their own design. The authors also agree that neither Mad Hatters' Review nor the editors will be held liable for any acts of copyright violation.
