The Midwest Writing Center is seeking submissions for a new short anthology featuring work that engages with the theme of Radical Hospitality.

This theme calls people to “welcome the stranger” and to extend “an expansive and committed welcome to all regardless of background, beliefs, or circumstances, and particularly to those who face barriers to belonging. More than politeness, radical hospitality calls for a generous sharing of time, resources, and life together.”

Ambrosians Working for Social Justice held its annual conference Oct. 3, 2023 at the Rogalski Center at St. Ambrose University, Davenport.

For this project, the MWC is looking for submissions of poetry (30 lines maximum) and flash prose (fiction or nonfiction, 500 words max.). Submissions are open October 1, and close on Dec. 15, 2023 (see complete guidelines here).

MWC will select the strongest 20-30 works for publication in an anthology, to be published by MWC Press in April 2024. 

All contributors to the anthology will receive $100 for their work in addition to two copies of the anthology, and the opportunity to record their work for a podcast. Selections will be announced in early January 2024.

Here’s more info on the “radical hospitality” theme (from St. Ambrose University):

The Oct. 3, 2023 Ambrosians Working for Social Justice Conference addressed the theme of “Radical Hospitality,” regarding the growing humanitarian crisis related to immigration and those seeking asylum from various places of harm.

“We will consider how to dismantle the barriers to belonging faced because of immigration status, recovery journey, or history of incarceration,” according to SAU. “Through workshops, presentations, and sharing together, we will ask how to practice radical hospitality as individuals, institutions, and communities, and seek out next steps to truly welcome the foreigner, the outcast, and the outsider, into our communities and lives.”

Joyful Clemantine Wamariya — a social entrepreneur, internationally renowned speaker and a New York Times bestselling author — was keynote speaker for the Oct. 3 “Radical Hospitality” conference at St. Ambrose.

Radical hospitality refers to an expansive and committed welcome to all regardless of background, beliefs, or circumstances, and particularly to those who face barriers to belonging. More than politeness, radical hospitality calls for a generous sharing of time, resources, and life together.

It includes offering support without judgment and fostering relationships of deep connection. Radical hospitality involves collaboration to combat barriers to inclusion and the creation of paths to access and safety in support of true communal belonging.

All MWC contributors to the new book will have the opportunity to read their work during the “Speak Your Peace” event at Galvin Fine Arts on Friday, Jan. 26, where they will have a chance to win up to $500 in a contest decided by audience members.

Contributors will have the opportunity to record their works for a podcast prior to the event, and the event will be recorded live.

The anthology will be published in April 2024, and the contributors will be invited to read at a release event at Galvin Fine Arts Center (date TBA), where the first 200 people in attendance will receive a free copy of the anthology (copies will be available to purchase after that). They plan on doing other events around the anthology, so that all of the contributors have multiple chances for public appearances. 

For more information on the submission process, click HERE.