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Books

This collection by prize-winning poet Akua Lezli Hope explores passages of music and experience, as a Black woman in America playing with and through the complexities of different keys of life. The poems in EMBOUCHURE emphasize the wonder, joy, and love found at the close of the 20th century while also examining the bittersweet aspects of sex, race, and identity.

The secular and the spiritual meet in EMBOUCHURE, using the lens of jazz to look at and reveal the sensual and the sexual with a storytelling lyricism. These works sing through denial toward affirmation, celebrating black women and men, reflecting on difficulties and calling for strength. A fresh talent emerges vigorous and compelling in these musical, joyous, and radiant poems that express how life sounds and how life feels. Hope's poetry lifts our eyes to the horizon and offers fresh images and new realms in which we may live.
 

"There is a sacred power to these words. There is a sustained lyricism, a sureness of craft and an uncanny concentration of ambitious dazzling images..," said Robert Fleming, award-winning journalist, novelist and critic.

The publication of EMBOUCHURE is accompanied by the release of an audio cassette tape featuring Akua Lezli Hope performing her poetry and Dick Riddick on congas and percussion. Published by ArtFarm Press, a new small press in the southern Finger Lakes Region of New York State, EMBOUCHURE is available direct from the publisher for $10 including shipping and handling at the address above oror at literary bookstores for $7.95 (U.S.)The audio cassette tape can be ordered for $10 including shipping and handling from the publisheR
 
"I love its exuberance, its delight in language and rhythm..."
-Barry Fogden, poet and editor of Blue Cage (England) on EMBOUCHURE
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Speculative Mothers

— A Mini Anthology of speculative poetry

 

We seek poetry for Speculative Mothers, a curated,  7”x 5” (portrait) mini-anthology exploring the intersection of motherhood and speculative poetry. We want poems that explore, examine and excavate the maternal archetype moving out and through the quotidian domestic and into the cosmos, the mythological, through the possibilities of today, yesterday, tomorrow.

 

Whether your work engages sci-fi, dystopian survival, ancestral time travel, or any of the many possibilities under the speculative umbrella, we want to see how you report on, represent and record the reality-shaping energy and will of mothers.

 

Submission Guidelines

 

  1. Poem Count: Submit up to 2 poems. Only 9 total poems will be selected for this  print chapbook. Include your bio.

  2. Line Length Limit: Maximum 56 characters per line (including spaces). This ensures your text fits elegantly across our page without forced text-wrapping.

  3. Layout Note: Longer poems are welcome! They will be formatted across multi-page spreads.

  4. Our Design Layout: The anthology will be set in 11 pt Optima with 1.15 line spacing and 0.5-inch margins. If your poem relies on hyper-specific visual spacing, please ensure it fits within a 4-inch wide printable text block.

  5. Deadline: September15, 2026.

  6. How to Submit: speculativepoetry@gmail.com If you don’t receive a response saying it was received, then it hasn’t been. Submissions may close once the anthology is filled.  Previously published poems are acceptable if you have permission for reprinting.

  7. Contributors will receive:

a $20 honorarium, payable upon execution of the publication agreement;

one complimentary contributor copy of Speculative Mothers

Total estimated value: approximately $37

 

Rights Requested

First North American anthology print rights. If the submitted work has been previously published, the publisher requests non-exclusive anthology reprint rights. All rights not expressly granted remain with the author.

 

Call for Cover Art

 

We are also seeking one artist to create the cover for Speculative Mothers. We welcome original artwork that engages the anthology's themes through speculative imagination. We are especially interested in work that moves beyond conventional representations of motherhood to embrace the cosmic, mythic, surreal, futuristic, ancestral, ecological, or otherwise speculative.

 

Traditional, digital, collage, fiber, mixed media, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and other visual media are welcome.

 

Submission Guidelines

  • Submit up to 3 images (JPEG or PNG).

  • Include image title, medium, dimensions, and year completed.

  • Images should be at least 300 dpi or capable of being reproduced at high resolution.

  • Include a brief artist biography (100 words maximum).

  • Email submissions to speculativepoetry@gmail.com with the subject line:
    Speculative Mothers Cover Art.

  • Deadline: September 15, 2026.

 

Compensation

The selected artist will receive:

  • a $50 honorarium upon execution of the publication agreement;

  • credit on the copyright page and in promotional materials;

  • one complimentary copy of the anthology

 

Rights Requested

The artist grants ArtFarm Press a non-exclusive license to reproduce the artwork on the cover of Speculative Mothers and in promotional materials related to the anthology. Copyright remains with the artist. All rights not expressly granted remain with the artist.

 

Speculative Mothers is the first in a series of Speculative Gift Books, mini-anthologies of speculative verse.

 

Publisher:        ArtFarm Press.

Editor:              Akua Lezli Hope

 

Next in the Series

Speculative Dis/Ability

Speculative Divinations

Speculative Pastoral

Speculative Cats

Speculative Father

 

We seek poetry for Speculative Mothers, a curated,  7”x 5” (portrait) mini-anthology exploring the intersection of motherhood and speculative poetry. We want poems that explore, examine and excavate the maternal archetype moving out and through the quotidian domestic and into the cosmos, the mythological, through the possibilities of today, yesterday, tomorrow.

 

Whether your work engages sci-fi, dystopian survival, ancestral time travel, or any of the many possibilities under the speculative umbrella, we want to see how you report on, represent and record the reality-shaping energy and will of mothers.

 

Submission Guidelines

 

  1. Poem Count: Submit up to 2 poems. Only 9 total poems will be selected for this  print chapbook. Include your bio.

  2. Line Length Limit: Maximum 56 characters per line (including spaces). This ensures your text fits elegantly across our page without forced text-wrapping.

  3. Layout Note: Longer poems are welcome! They will be formatted across multi-page spreads.

  4. Our Design Layout: The anthology will be set in 11 pt Optima with 1.15 line spacing and 0.5-inch margins. If your poem relies on hyper-specific visual spacing, please ensure it fits within a 4-inch wide printable text block.

  5. Deadline: September15, 2026.

  6. How to Submit: speculativepoetry@gmail.com If you don’t receive a response saying it was received, then it hasn’t been. Submissions may close once the anthology is filled.  Previously published poems are acceptable if you have permission for reprinting.

  7. Contributors will receive:

a $20 honorarium, payable upon execution of the publication agreement;

one complimentary contributor copy of Speculative Mothers

Total estimated value: approximately $37

 

Rights Requested

First North American anthology print rights. If the submitted work has been previously published, the publisher requests non-exclusive anthology reprint rights. All rights not expressly granted remain with the author.

 

Call for Cover Art

 

We are also seeking one artist to create the cover for Speculative Mothers. We welcome original artwork that engages the anthology's themes through speculative imagination. We are especially interested in work that moves beyond conventional representations of motherhood to embrace the cosmic, mythic, surreal, futuristic, ancestral, ecological, or otherwise speculative.

 

Traditional, digital, collage, fiber, mixed media, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and other visual media are welcome.

 

Submission Guidelines

  • Submit up to 3 images (JPEG or PNG).

  • Include image title, medium, dimensions, and year completed.

  • Images should be at least 300 dpi or capable of being reproduced at high resolution.

  • Include a brief artist biography (100 words maximum).

  • Email submissions to speculativepoetry@gmail.com with the subject line:
    Speculative Mothers Cover Art.

  • Deadline: September 15, 2026.

 

Compensation

The selected artist will receive:

  • a $50 honorarium upon execution of the publication agreement;

  • credit on the copyright page and in promotional materials;

  • one complimentary copy of the anthology

 

Rights Requested

The artist grants ArtFarm Press a non-exclusive license to reproduce the artwork on the cover of Speculative Mothers and in promotional materials related to the anthology. Copyright remains with the artist. All rights not expressly granted remain with the artist.

 

Speculative Mothers is the first in a series of Speculative Gift Books, mini-anthologies of speculative verse.

 

Publisher:        ArtFarm Press.

Editor:              Akua Lezli Hope

 

Next in the Series

Speculative Dis/Ability

Speculative Divinations

Speculative Pastoral

Speculative Cats

Speculative Father

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