Call for Papers: “Am I Invisible?” -- Voices Society Silences
Call for Papers: “Am I Invisible?” Voices Society Silences
deadlines for submissions:
October 15, 2022 (Pre-Submission Ideas, Proposals, and Abstracts Deadline)
November 15, 2022 (Deadline for Drafts)
contact email:
SurviveAndThriveHealing@gmail.com
In this special issue of _Survive and Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative Medicine_ (Vol. 8, slated for publication 2023; full schedule below), we ask students, educators, caregivers, victims/survivors, advocates, first responders, and all others who feel they are invisible to bring light to their experiences for others to see.
In an era of “me first” and social media filters that make snapshots seem like a perfect life–it is easy for people to feel and question if they are invisible in their pain. It is easy for people to feel the weight of society silencing your cries for help, and the increasing burden making the air too heavy to breathe. We seek to provide a microphone for those who wish to lighten their weight by acknowledging their experiences, to help others feel validated in knowing they are not alone, and to help folks know they are not invisible.
In this project, we are inspired by the work of the What They Don’t Tell You About Being a Survivor podcast (available at https://menaspeacemakers.podbean.com/), whose mission is to empower survivors/victims, and help people know they are not alone in what they are going through. The types of traumas discussed on the podcast are not limited to any specific type of trauma.
Contributors might explore these questions and other questions of their own:
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What would I say if the world would listen?
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What would I share if I didn’t fear the shame of ____?
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What would I say to those who are starting the journey, I am healing from?
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What is my story from trauma to healing?
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How might my journey have gone if people would have helped me when I needed it?
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What makes me feel invisible while in plain sight?
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What lies beneath the mask I feel obliged to wear?
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What is it society silences me from saying about___?
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How can I help others who are enduring what I have?
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How can we help others from experiencing the trauma I am?
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What has healing been like for me?
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How does my trauma weigh me down still?
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What they don’t tell you about being a survivor?
We especially would like to hear from people who have/are experiencing trauma (please note: authors can use a pseudonym). The truth is that the majority of us have or will experience trauma; the unfortunate truth is also that people tell us our trauma is not actually trauma. Trauma is trauma, and we want to help folks know they are not invisible, that we see you and you are not alone. We also want to give hope to others through sharing the journey of healing. Providing validation for those who might be hearing “It’s in the past move on.” or something else that minimizes their experience(s). Not asking folks to reopen wounds, but rather name them and share how the trauma has impacted your life. We encourage folks to share the ups and downs of their personal story on surviving and thriving.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE
-October 15, 2022: Deadline for Ideas, Proposals, and Abstracts. Authors who submit by October 15 will receive early feedback to help them grow, expand and develop ideas.
Submit to: SurviveAndThriveHealing@gmail.com and to dbeard@d.umn.edu
-November 15th, 2022: Deadline for Completed Work. You do not need to have submitted an abstract to submit work on this deadline.
Submit to: https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/survive_thrive/
Summer 2023: Projected Publication
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
"Submissions" may include text (poetry, essay, creative nonfiction, scholarly argument) video, audio, or image files that express the aims and scope of the journal. Submissions cannot have been previously published.
A FEW SUGGESTED READINGS, in alphabetical order:
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A Road Accident
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A Buoy and a Lifehouse
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Am I Invisible?
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After Trauma: Survivor Stories
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Blog Stories: Our Wave
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Inmates learning and dealing with their own childhood trauma
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Podcast: What They Don’t Tell You About Being a Survivor
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Poems About Abuse
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Virtual Exhibit: Capturing My Healing
ABOUT SURVIVE AND THRIVE: A JOURNAL FOR MEDICAL HUMANITIES AND NARRATIVE AS MEDICINE
Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as Medicine aims to provide opportunities for sharing research, artistic work, pedagogical dialogue, and the practices of medical humanities and narrative as medicine. The journal serves a mission in education and the practice of humanities as they relate to illness, injury, and trauma. One of the primary aims of the journal is to bring medical humanities and narrative medicine to patients, survivors, and caregivers. Its emphasis, therefore, is on patients and survivors and their needs, and while aware of and supporting professional medical education, the journal is most concerned with an audience broader than an academic audience. We encourage physicians and others in the medical profession to practice Narrative as Medicine by submitting their work, especially when it encourages them to be artists – visual, performance, and literary.
Project co-edited by:
Laura Anderson, SurviveAndThriveHealing@gmail.com
David Beard, DBeard@d.umn.edu