Paperboats is a collective of writers focussed on nature and environment in a time of climate and ecological breakdown. We are Scotland based and global in outlook, and write to affirm the astonishing life of this planet, and how its future may yet be shaped.

We are now accepting submissions for the Issue Six of the Paperboats zine on the theme of Nature’s Voice. 

We invite short works of poetry and prose that challenge the dominant, human-centric lens through which we so often view the world. What happens when we stop placing ourselves at the centre? How can we speak for Nature? How might we hear its voices? And what might they say? 

We are looking for submissions that give voice to the more-than-human world. Let your imagination move through other forms of life, other modes of being and looking at the world – a retreating glacier, a coral reef, the last cry of an extinction. Let Nature speak, mourn, rage – in decline or in hope, in distant pasts or imagined futures. This is a call to listen – and to translate what we hear.  More so now than ever, we need to hear what Nature has to say. 

Submissions close Friday September 26, midnight. 

Guidelines:

We publish essays, short fiction and poetry that reflect our commitment, and which focus on Scotland as home ground – writing that shows honesty, care, curiosity and skill. Submissions in English, Scots or Scottish Gaelic, are welcome from writers within and outwith Scotland and we particularly welcome submissions from under-represented groups.

We publish up to 1500 words of prose (short fiction or creative nonfiction) and/or up to 60 lines of poetry. Attach your writing as a Word or RTF document to your email and send to submissions@paperboats.org.

Work should not be previously published. We accept simultaneous submissions but if your work is accepted elsewhere please let us know. 

We do not publish pieces by the same author in consecutive issues of the zine, so if you have been published before on Paperboats, please leave a one issue gap before submitting again.

You can read issues one to five on our website to get a feel for the kind of work we publish.

Submissions should be emailed to: submissions@paperboats.org