Dwellers in the Land...

“But to become dwellers in the land, to relearn the laws of Gaea, to come to know the earth fully and honestly, the crucial and perhaps only all-encompassing task is to understand place, the immediate specific place where we live.  The kinds of soils and rocks under our feet; the source of the waters we drink; the meaning of the different kinds of winds; the common insects, birds, mammals, plants, and trees; the particular cycles of the seasons; the times to plant and harvest and forage–these are the things that are necessary to know.  The limits of its resources; the carrying capacities of its lands and waters; the places where it must not be stressed; the places where its bounties can best be developed; the treasures it holds and the treasures it withholds–these are the things that must be understood.  And the cultures of the people, of the populations native to the land and of those who have grown up with it, the human social and economic arrangements shaped by and adapted to the geomorphic ones, in both urban and rural settings–these are the things that must be appreciated. 

That, in essence, is bioregionalism.”

Kirkpatrick Sale, Dwellers in the Land, p. 42

Bioregionalism: Themes and Prompts

Thematically speaking, there are two options for submissions to our bioregionalism section: writing about bioregionalism, and taking a bioregional perspective.

We expect most pieces submitted specifically about bioregionalism will be nonfiction, or visual narratives which map out and/or explain a bioregion, but we're certainly open to surprises!

We welcome any submission types listed below which provide a clear bioregional perspective on any subject matter.

Submission Types

For or bioregionalism theme, we accept three different types of work:

1. Fiction
2. Nonfiction 
3. Photo essays and visual narratives

Submission Guidelines

We do not require blinded submissions.  We prefer knowing as much about the author/creator as possible.

Remember, The Upper New Review is a hybrid publication.  We encourage the use of hyperlinks and embeddable media: images, audiovisuals, datasets, visualizations, etc.  (It is our job at The Upper New to convert these embeddable elements to printable ephemera when and if the time comes.)

We welcome simultaneous submissions, but ask that you notify us immediately and withdraw your submission if it is accepted for publication elsewhere.

Prose (fiction and nonfiction)

For prose, the minimum word count for a manuscript is 3000 words.  We consider a short story to be no longer than 20,000 words, so our maximum word count is 20,000 words for fiction and nonfiction manuscripts.

Properly formatted manuscripts, including 12pt font, double-spacing, page numbers, etc.

For nonfiction works, please include properly formatted citations, using whatever system works for you (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.)

.DOCX or .ODT file formats preferred.  

PDF files are acceptable as well, but more difficult to parse in our system.

Note: All fiction works will be considered for Ecotheater script conversion and production.

Photo Essays and Visual Narratives

We accept Photo Essays and Visual Narratives that contain at least one dozen (12) images in a well curated series, with or without accompanying text, depending on the nature of the narrative.

When submitting these narrative works that are primarily a series of visual images (photographs or other forms of visual art or data visualization), your initial submission should take the form of a single PDF file, with the image series and accompanying textual content properly formatted (e.g. horizontal vs. vertical orientation), as if a finished, printed artifact.

Should your work be accepted for publication, our team will reach out with instructions for providing original high resolution images and a text manuscript that will allow us to structure the visual narrative properly for online and print publication, as necessary.

LifePlace

“A bioregion is literally and etymologically a “life-place”—a unique region definable by natural (rather than political) boundaries with a geographic, climatic, hydrological, and ecological character capable of supporting unique human and non-human living communities.  Bioregions can be variously defined by the geography of watersheds, similar plant and animal ecosystems, and related identifiable landforms (e.g., particular mountain ranges, prairies, or coastal zones) and by the unique human cultures that grow from natural limits and potentials of the region.  Most importantly, the bioregion is emerging as the most logical locus and scale for sustainable regenerative community to take root and take place.  In reaction to a globally shallow, consumer-driven, technologically saturated world where humans are alienated from nature and offered simulations of it instead, the bioregion offers an appropriate venue for the natural predisposition toward graceful human life on earth.  The bioregional or “life-place” concept suggests the efflorescence and emplacement of biophilia, our innate affection for the totality of life in all its forms.  Although by no means a unified philosophy, theory, or method, the bioregional approach suggests a means of living by deep understanding of, respect for, and, ultimately, care of a naturally bounded region or territory.”

Robert  Thayer, LifePlace: Bioregional Thought and Practice. (pp. 3-4)

Submissions Policy

Any submission not strictly adhering to the guidelines will be automatically rejected.  Resubmissions adhering to guidelines are allowed.  You will start a new submission and pay the requisite fees.

Unfortunately, The Upper New cannot provide refunds for any submissions.

What are stewardship stories?

Simply put: stewardship stories are stories about how to do ecological stewardship.

What does it look like to do stewardship in reality?  What are all the ways stewardship can be practiced? Where is stewardship happening?

What kinds of ecological stewardship are you practicing, and how do you conduct this practice?  Tell us all about so we can help others learn about how to do stewardship too!

Stewardship stories can take many forms, starting as hybrid nonfiction works that may include audiovisual elements.  We’d love to see these stories transform into a podcast series, or perhaps a documentary video series we can host on Vimeo or YouTube.  In service of providing these stories as open educational resources (OER) we envision offering all of these media elements with Creative Commons licensing.

We are building our own stewardship stories as well, such as tracking the growth of several species of amphibians adjacent to Little Glade Creek in Glade Valley, North Carolina.

Guidelines

Currently, due to staff limitations, submissions must be written in English.

These are open themed submissions, so please consider anything as a potential for publication in The Upper New Review.

Submissions must be previously unpublished, in print or online.  Publication does not include personal blogs, social media posts, etc.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere, and withdraw your submission from consideration.

We’re open to all subject matter, with the exception that we will not publish anything containing gratuitous sexual content.  It’s certainly reasonable for your stewardship story to concern reproductive issues for any number of species, including humans.

Responses for any submission can take up to eight months, with variations depending on the contents of the submission and the time of year.  Typically,  we will strive to have a response for your submission within two months.  If it has been six months since you submitted, and you have not heard from us, please do send us a follow-up inquiry!

Specific Rules

For your submission, you may submit one manuscript document.

If you have multiple stewardship stories you’d like to submit, we want to consider them!  Up to four additional manuscript documents may be submitted (with an additional media fee for each) allowing a total of five stewardship story manuscript documents per submission. 

The minimum word count for your stewardship story manuscript is 3000 words.  We don’t really have a maximum word count for stewardship stories.  However: anything over 20,000 words will really need to keep our interest, and likely we’ll need to serialize it if we accept for publication, but that’s okay!

If you’ve created diagrams, illustrations, photographs, or any sorts of static visual imagery to supplement your stewardship stories, please embed these images directly into the manuscript where relevant.

If you’ve created audio recordings or videos to supplement your stewardship stories, please include placeholders like [video here] in your manuscript, and provide us with a YouTube or Vimeo link to your streaming video file (or SoundCloud, etc. for audio files).  If we need a password to access the file, please include the password.

Any submission not strictly adhering to the guidelines will be automatically rejected.  Resubmissions adhering to guidelines are allowed.  You will start a new submission and pay the requisite fees.

We're seeking out research narratives from people pursuing knowledge in any field, all over Earth.

Who is writing research narratives?  Researchers. You.  You’re conducting research.  That means you’re a researcher.  You might be focused in the sciences, the social sciences, or the humanities.

Maybe it’s just you.  Maybe it’s a collaborative team. Maybe you’re in the lab.  Maybe you’re in the field.

Maybe you’re doing interdisciplinary work.  Maybe you’re doing transdisciplinary work.  Maybe, just maybe, you’re defying the disciplines. (Maybe you’re completely undisciplined, in a good way…)

Regardless: you’ve got questions, you’ve got methods, and you’ve got findings.  Maybe they’re just preliminary.  You’re still looking.  How’d you get here, and what are you going to do about it?

What are the logistical parameters we are looking for in a research narrative?

For anyone conducting any kind of research, we want to hear the story of the research.  How would you explain your work to a middle school student audience?  This is a teaching and learning scenario.

We're looking for jargon-free, approachable stories about your research process and findings, and the relevance of how your research fits into the grander scheme of things.  In other words, why are you doing what you're doing, and what's next?

We don't have a maximum word count, but we hope you can be concise and engaging.  

We'd rather you worry about crafting a good story that is easy to absorb for someone with a high school education.  Pretend you're teaching people how to understand your work.  

Please make sure your narrative is at least 3000 words.  Likely it will be nearer to 5000 words.  But, as long as it is at least 3000 words, concise, and engaging, you should be off to a good start achieving what we're looking for.

Our hybrid publication process is, essentially, a combination of writing, images, and multimedia content.  You may or may not be able to share the data sets associated with your research, but if you can (even if it’s anonymized, etc.), that would be great.  

We also like the idea of sharing analysis syntax or protocols, which would make it much easier for other folks to replicate and verify your work, should that be relevant to the way you’re doing research.

More details about submissions

Currently, due to staff limitations, submissions must be written in English.

These are open themed submissions, so please consider anything as a potential for publication in The Upper New Review.

Submissions must be previously unpublished, in print or online.  Publication does not include personal blogs, social media posts, etc.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere, and withdraw your submission from consideration.

We’re open to all subject matter, with the exception that we will not publish erotica or anything containing gratuitous sexual content.  For example, we would happily read a personal reflection on the mating habits of river otters in your local river basin.

Responses for any submission can take up to eight months, with variations depending on the contents of the submission and the time of year.  Typically,  we will strive to have a response for your submission within two months.  If it has been six months since you submitted, and you have not heard from us, please do send us a follow-up inquiry!

Any submission not strictly adhering to the guidelines will be automatically rejected.  Resubmissions adhering to guidelines are allowed (fees apply).

 

We accept submissions of visual art, motion art, auditory art, performance art, interactive experiences, and interdisciplinary works.

Currently, due to staff limitations, creative submissions involving language must be primarily in English (or provide English subtitles).

These are open themed submissions, so please consider anything as a potential for publication in The Upper New Review.

Submissions must be previously unpublished, in print or online.  Publication does not include personal blogs, social media posts, etc.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere, and withdraw your submission from consideration.

We are open to all subject matter, with the exception that we will not publish erotica or anything containing gratuitous sexual content.  For example, we would happily watch a documentary on the mating habits of slugs in your local river basin.

Responses for any submission can take up to eight months, with variations depending on the contents of the submission and the time of year.  Typically,  we will strive to have a response for your submission within two months.  If it has been six months since you submitted, and you have not heard from us, please do send us a follow-up inquiry!

Specific Rules

For your submission, you may submit one creative work: either visual art, motion art, auditory art, performance art, interactive experience, or interdisciplinary work.

Up to three additional individual works may be submitted (with an additional media fee for each) allowing a total of four works per submission.  Additional works must match the first submission.  Combined submissions of visual art, motion art, auditory art, performance art, interactive experience, or interdisciplinary work are not permitted.

For 2D visual art, such as painting, illustration, photography, digital art, etc.: Submit a single image of the work.  Ensure the resolution of the image submitted is high enough to showcase the quality of your creative work.

For 3D visual art, such as sculpture, installations, digital models, etc.: Submit a single image of the work.  Ensure the composition and resolution of the image submitted is appropriate to showcase the quality of your creative work.  As an alternative, please submit a brief video showcasing a single 3D work.  Limit the length of the video to 90 seconds.  Narration is allowed, but no music or soundtrack.  If you are submitting a video, we prefer a document containing a URL to access the video.

For motion art, such as live action films and animations: Submit a single video, 1080x1920 resolution, either horizontal or vertical aspect ratio.  Limit duration of video to five (5) minutes.  If the full length of the work you are submitting exceeds five minutes, please indicate this in the synopsis of your submission, and ensure the video file you submit is an appropriate preview of the complete work.  As opposed to uploading a video file directly to Submittable, we prefer a document containing a URL to access the video.

For auditory works, such as music and spoken word: Submit a single audio file, no more than five (5) minutes in length.  Ensure the fidelity of the audio submitted is high enough to showcase the quality of your creative work.  If the full length of the work you are submitting exceeds five minutes, please indicate this in the synopsis of your submission, and ensure the audio file you submit is an appropriate preview of the complete work.  As opposed to uploading an audio file directly to Submittable, we prefer a document containing a URL to access the audio.

For performance art, regardless of genre, we assume the best method for submitting this work is in the form of a video.  Submit a single video, 1080x1920 resolution, either horizontal or vertical aspect ratio.  Limit duration of video to five (5) minutes.  If the full length of the work you are submitting exceeds five minutes, please indicate this in the synopsis of your submission, and ensure the video file you submit is an appropriate preview of the complete work.  As opposed to uploading a video file directly to Submittable, we prefer a document containing a URL to access the video.

For interactive experiences, we’d like to see a walkthrough demo of how your interactive experience functions for the intended user(s).  We assume the best method for submitting this work is in the form of a video.  Submit a single video, 1080x1920 resolution, either horizontal or vertical aspect ratio.  Limit duration of video to five (5) minutes.  Please submit a document containing a URL to access the video.  In the same document, please provide any URLs necessary to access more expansive versions of the interactive experiences, so long as these experiences are not behind paywalls.

For interdisciplinary works, please use your best judgment concerning the nature of the single artifact to be submitted to best represent your work.  Whichever format you choose, please reference specific guidelines in categories above.

Any submission not strictly adhering to the guidelines will be automatically rejected.  Resubmissions adhering to guidelines are allowed.  You will start a new submission and pay the requisite fees.

We accept submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.  

Currently, due to staff limitations, submissions must be written in English.

These are open themed submissions, so please consider anything as a potential for publication in The Upper New Review.

Submissions must be previously unpublished, in print or online.  Publication does not include personal blogs, social media posts, etc.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere, and withdraw your submission from consideration.

We’re open to all subject matter, with the exception that we will not publish erotica or anything containing gratuitous sexual content.  For example, we would happily read a personal reflection on the mating habits of river otters in your local river basin.

Responses for any submission can take up to eight months, with variations depending on the contents of the submission and the time of year.  Typically,  we will strive to have a response for your submission within two months.  If it has been six months since you submitted, and you have not heard from us, please do send us a follow-up inquiry!

Specific Rules

For your submission, you may submit one document: either fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.

Up to three additional documents may be submitted (with an additional media fee for each) allowing a total of four documents per submission.  Additional documents must match the first submission.  Combined submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry are not permitted.

For prose, the minimum word count for a manuscript is 3000 words.  We consider a short story to be no longer than 20,000 words, so our maximum word count is 20,000 words for fiction and nonfiction manuscripts.

For poetry, limit each poem to three pages.  Do not put multiple poems in the same document.

Any submission not strictly adhering to the guidelines will be automatically rejected.  Resubmissions adhering to guidelines are allowed.  You will start a new submission and pay the requisite fees.