In April 2026, I attended Shauna M. Morgan, Angel Dye, and Madison (Mocha) Hunter's College Language Association panel discussion: “Scripting Soul Work: The Infusive Praxis of Poet-Scholars.” In their talk, each panelist discussed—in prose like fashion—her relationship with her creative and scholarly self, and, in the spirit of Barbara Christian's 1987 “The Race for Theory,” they argued the significance of creative writing to Black and brown folk scholarship and being, which they supported with a reading of their selected poetic works.

As I listened to them and considered my own relationship to creative writing and the academy, I ideated a small anthology in which Black and brown poet-scholars could share their experience(s), theories, practices, tips, re: how they move through the academy as a scholar-poet, while not not shrinking their creative self in the race for tenure, in the race for departmental legitimacy, in the race for publication, or in whatever other races the academy insists we compete in (or imposes upon us) at the potential denigration of the creative Black and brown self. 

To that end, and in conversation with Barbara Christian’s 1987 “The Race for Theory” essay, I invite short (3-7 page) prose essays that answer:

• How and/or why do you insist on your creative self when scholars tend to dismiss poetry writing as an activity/practice that has (or should have) a place in the academy?
• How do you merge your academic and poetic selves, and what challenges and/or successes have you encountered in doing so?
• Do you merge your two selves, and if you do or do not, explain both process and reason.
• How do you maintain your poetry writing when the academy demands so much of your other scholarship, teaching, and service? 
• What challenges have you faced as a Black [insert other identities that are significant to your essay] creative writing scholar at a STEM-focused university, PWI, or HBCU?
• How have you managed the still reality of white scholars profiting from Black and brown folks’ creativity while still creating in and for the academy?

Other themes not prompted here are also welcome.

In addition to a 3-7-page essay, each contributor should submit 2-3 poems (of your choice, topic, and length) to accompany your essay. Poems may be previously published; however, essays should not have been published prior to submission.

Additional Guidelines:

1. Essays should be written in a conversational tone, accessible to a wide audience of both traditional and non-traditional academicians.
2. Essays should be double spaced and typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, excepting poems that should be formatted per poetic style.
3. Essays that include secondary research should adhere to APA guidelines. (Please avoid heavy footnoting and end noting; and limit large, blocked quoting to no more than two.)
4. Please submit full, ready-to-be-published essays and poems to ensure on-time publication. (Note: Editorial staff is limited.)

Email full submissions as one Word document attachment to bombspublishing@gmail.com. In other words, poems should be in the same Word document as the essay. In the subject line, please include: Your Name_Abbreviated Essay Title_A Race for Theory. Include a brief (no more than seven lines) biography in the email message.

If you have additional questions, you may address them to Kendra N. Bryant Aya, Ph.D., editor, at bombspublishing@gmail.com.