FAQ
What: Envoys: An international journal of humanities and social sciences is accepting submissions
Who: Contributors aged 16-22 years old (as of 30 Dec 2024)
Where: Open to contributors from anywhere in the world, written in any World English
When: Submissions are open until 31 December 2024 for Volume 1, Issue 1
Why: Envoys is a forum for creators to connect, communicate and share knowledge
Background
Envoys takes its name from Zbigniew Herbert’s poem ‘The Envoy of Mr Cogito’ – which adjures: ‘you were saved not in order to live… you must give testimony’.
Envoys is a space for writers, thinkers and creators aged 16-to-20 years old to connect, learn and share. In a world where social media makes everything visible without making anything comprehensible, Envoys provides a collaborative space in which to cultivate mutual understanding, respect and friendship.
Envoys facilitates this by hosting online editorial, teaching and review sessions so contributors have the opportunity to meet, discuss and collaborate. This gives participants an invaluable opportunity to build a global network and share ideas across regions, cultures and identities.
- Priority is given to representing the broadest possible range of nationalities, backgrounds and identities.
- Priority is given to creators from disadvantaged socioeconomic groups.
Seeking
Essays, articles, op-eds, original research/literature reviews, fiction, poetry and art
Language: Submissions are accepted in any World English (including ‘standard’ English); non-English language works will be considered if accompanied by an English translation
Lengths: Prose – up to 3,000
Poetry – up to three pages
Art – up to three images
Participating
Contributors will participate in five online meetings, plus completing their submission.
- editorial launch
- writing master class
- peer review session
- roundtable discussion
- one-to-one meeting with the founding editor
Contributors will each review two peer papers.
Orientating
Each issue of Envoys will have a totem, that is “a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem” (Oxford Languages).
Envoys cleaves to William Carlos Williams’ admonition “no ideas but in things” – thus we seek inspiration in concrete totems, not abstract themes.
Totem: Octopuses
Octopuses are some of the most extraordinary beings on the planet: ancient, resourceful, adapted to extreme environments; they are wise, playful, problem solvers and masters of disguise. They are dextrous, physically unique and have evolved sophisticated self-protection methods.
All of these traits are desirable, necessary, or both, for humans in the modern world.
- Submissions can be about octopuses.
- Submissions can also not be about octopuses as long as they engage with one or more of the qualities this totem embodies: adaptability, creativity, resourcefulness, etc.
Recommended reading Vol 1, Issue 1
For inspiration, ideas, information:
English