General Submissions

We are currently closed for manuscript submissions as our publication schedule is full.

Call for Submissions: The Hajar Book of Waves

We’re seeking submissions from writers of colour of short pieces of writing for The Hajar Book of Waves, the second volume in our elements anthology series.

This Water-themed book will explore the waves that carry, connect, renew and shape us: the ebb and flow of history in a non-linear continuum, a call-and-response between the past and the future; the gushing surges of empathy and feeling that move and enliven us; the fluid psycho-spiritual processes that help us adapt and change; the cycles of action and reflection that keep our organising alive; the mass movement of people in protest and migration; and the irrepressible force of the cosmos guiding the earthly tide. We’re interested in writing that engages with waves as both material and metaphor—flowing and flooding, soothing and overwhelming, refreshing and eroding; the rhythms and repetitions of perpetual back-and-forth motion; the power of water refusing to stagnate.

We’re now open for submissions of short stories, poetry, essays and everything in between showing radical imagination, creative experimentation and sharp political engagement with the world around us.

Submission Details:

  • Open to people of colour.

  • Submissions can be fiction, poetry, essays or other forms of textual work; we are not accepting illustrated submissions.

  • Maximum length per piece: 6,000 words.

  • Up to 3 pieces per person; 3 poems count as 3 pieces, regardless of length.

  • Deadline: 6 March 2026, 11.59 PM (GMT).

  • Pieces accepted for publication will be paid a fee of £50 for poems and £150 for prose.

  • Entry is free!

To submit your work, please email editorial [at] hajarpress [dot] com with the subject line ‘Book of Waves Submission: [Your Name]’ and attach each piece as a Word document (not a Google Doc or OneDrive link). If the layout of a piece is significant, you may submit a PDF in addition to the Word doc.

The file name of your attachment should be as follows: ‘[Your Surname] - [Title of the Piece]’. If you are submitting more than one piece, e.g. two poems, please send each in a different file.

For example:

Email subject line:
Book of Waves Submission: Hasan Akbar

File names of attachments:
Akbar - The Ocean.doc.
Akbar - Notes on Time.doc.

As mentioned above, each entrant may submit a maximum of three pieces. Please don’t send us your whole poetry collection or novel manuscript—select the poems or prose excerpts that you would most like to put forward and that you feel best fit the theme of the issue.

We look forward to reading your work!