The following is a call for submissions for The Great Lakes Anthology, edited by our Editor-In-Chief Michael Welch and forthcoming from Belt Publishing.
Call for Submissions: The Great Lakes Anthology
Overview:
The Great Lakes loom large in our collective imagination and the region’s cultural fabric. As the largest freshwater system in the world, the lakes have long powered the region’s manufacturing operations and provided an economic and societal lifeline for the communities that formed around them. While often viewed as distinct bodies of water, they exist as a slow flowing river from Lake Superior onward. In turn, communities as far as Buffalo and Duluth and as seemingly different as a small coastal township and a city as large as Chicago share something in common: their relationship to a lake that sustains and embodies them.
The Great Lakes Anthology will explore this inherent interconnectedness of the region through the bodies of water that define us, and will highlight the unique and shared experiences between authors and the lakes.
Coming in mid 2026 from Belt Publishing, The Great Lakes Anthology will be edited by Chicago Review of Books Editor-In-Chief Michael Welch. We’re looking for a wide range of contributions that speak to your personal relationship with the lake(s), the ways your community has been shaped and built alongside the water, and the rich past and undefined future of our lakes and coastal communities in the era of advancing climate change.
What We’re Looking For:
- Nonfiction personal essays between 1,000 and 4,000 words
- Longform narrative journalism between 1,000 and 4,000 words
- Select poetry
We’re open to all interpretations of the prompt, including topics such as:
- Personal reflections on the influence the Great Lakes have on our individual and collective imaginations as well as identifying with the region
- How the Great Lakes shaped our communities and how we exist alongside the lakes
- Stories about working, playing, and traveling on the lakes and along their shores
- Threats to our Great Lakes in the era of climate change, including invasive species, increased flooding, challenges to tribal sovereignty, and access to fresh water
How to Submit
Please email your submission to greatlakesanthology@gmail.com by January 31, 2025. Reprints are welcome. Contributors will be paid an honorarium and a copy of the anthology.