“On any given day, stories of protest dominate world and national news. Tahrir Square in Cairo; barricades in Kiev; a red shirt protestor shot on the streets of Bangkok; anti-fracking gatherings across the UK: protest could define the current age if it wasn’t for the fact that it could probably define every other ‘age’ too. As a means of responding to and resisting wrongs, mass protest remains extremely powerful.” Andrew Williams, Lacuna Editor in Chief, On Protest
Introduction
Lacuna is an online Magazine published by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice at the University of Warwick. It challenges indifference to suffering and promotes human rights. Its aim is to fill the gap between the short-term immediacy of daily journalism and long-term academic analysis.
Protest has been a strong theme of the magazine from its first edition. We have introduced accounts of protests from around the world and explored their many facets. We have examined protests happening today, and thought again about iconic times of protest from the past. We have explored the lives and works of protest-writers, protest-artists, protest-singers, protest-comedians, on-line activists, photographers, and individuals who have devoted their lives to protest, and asked what protest tells us about the human condition. We have examined protest in its many forms from protest marches, to online activism, from occupation movements to protest by ‘encirclement’. We have showcased the best of investigative journalism, film-making, poetry,philosophy, creative writing, and art involving protest.
Submissions
Lacuna is now revisiting the theme of protest and will be publishing a Special Issue on this theme in February 2016. We are now seeking submissions, with a closing date of December 31st 2015.
All forms of writing and visual art will be considered: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, film, animation and photography. You may wish to investigate a particular instance of protest, to provide commentary, reportage or expert analysis of a protest-related theme. Or you may wish to review a book, a film, a piece of music, art or theatre connected to protest. For more information, read our guidelines for submissions.
We are interested in exploring the diverse spectrum of forms of protest: boycotts; marches; strikes; sit ins; direct actions; online petitions; songs; stories and many more. What makes protests in all of these forms enticing, legitimate, rewarding, fruitful…? What are the wrongs that provoke our anger and how do we take action in response? We are particularly interested in work that seeks to uncover peoples’ motivations for protesting, what they seek to achieve by protesting, and/or the outcomes of their actions.
There is no word limit. If you take a look at some of Lacuna’s existing content (follow the links above), you will find submissions of varying lengths which adopt a variety of different styles. The key is that you have something to say that will intrigue and inform our audience, and that you say it (or draw it, film it…) with style and innovation.
We will publish the best submissions that we receive in our special issue on protest in February 2016.
We are committed to supporting new writers. This could be students and other people just starting out in their field, who might value feedback and assistance in developing their work. We will also support experienced writers who are learning how to write for new audiences; for instance, academics interested in translating their research for a wider audience. Where possible, we will work with prospective authors to help them improve and develop their work.
If you are thinking about making a submission and you have any further questions please contact Lewis Smith atLewis.Smith@warwick.ac.uk
Please send any submissions by email to Alice Panepinto at A.Panepinto@warwick.ac.uk
