What kind of note would you leave about becoming?
THE RED THREAD: Notes on Becoming invites writing about the changing body and the lives we build within it—from puberty to menopause and across the thresholds, transformations, losses, discoveries, and beginnings between.
We are especially interested in the places where generations speak to one another: what we were told, what we weren't told, what we believed, what we learned for ourselves, and what we want to pass along.
We use the word note expansively.
Your note might be:
a letter to your younger or older self
a note to your body—or one particular part of it
a message never sent
a diary or journal entry
a confession, blessing, apology, warning, or thank-you
a list or set of instructions
a field note from inside your own life
a fragment or series of fragments
a poem or poetic address
a brief dispatch from one age of yourself to another
It does not have to begin Dear... It does not have to look like a traditional letter.
A note might say: I wish someone had told me this. This is what happened. Don't forget. I didn't understand it then. Here's what my mother told me. Here's what I couldn't tell my daughter. Body, I'm sorry. Younger me, you were right. Here's what I know now.
It might be written to remember, to record, to explain, to confess, to question, to warn, to bless, or simply to leave something behind.
What do you want to say about becoming—and who, if anyone, needs to hear it?
We welcome poetry, creative nonfiction, lyric and hybrid work. We are less interested in genre than in the sense that the piece is, in some way, a note: something recorded, addressed, remembered, passed along, or left behind.
Multiple submissions are welcome. We know that becoming doesn't happen only once. You may have more than one note to leave. Please complete a separate submission form for each piece you would like us to consider.
Submit Here
We invite you to write across time. We are looking for writing generated in our workshops, as well as independent submissions. We encourage you to frame your submission as a letter to a younger or future self. For example:
- If you are experiencing or have passed through menopause: What does your midlife self need to tell the child standing on the edge of puberty? What did that younger body need to know about the fire, the changes, and the skin they were growing into?
- If you are currently navigating youth or puberty: What do you want to ask, promise, or demand of the older self you will one day become? What should they remember about the intensity of your present moment?
We encourage raw, reflective, and messy. Show us the hormonal echo.
Submissions close November 1st
Writers notified of selection by November 30th
Submit Here
Online Workshops
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/the-red-thread-4858102
In-Person Workshop Dates (click link to RSVP):
6 pm, 1013 Duke Avenue, Columbia, SC 29203
Are you interested in sponsoring the publication?
SPONSORSHIP LEVELS:
$10 sponsors a Writing Circle attendee (online workshop)
$20 sponsors a Gathering Table attendee (in-person workshop)
$150 sponsors an author in THE RED THREAD (we will pay each author chosen for this print anthology)
No amount is too small
