Landslide Lit(erary) is accepting pitches for stories, poems, and personal essays through November 2022.
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We at Landslide Lit(erary) invite submissions of poetry and prose on the subject of Eve, the long suffering woman so often scorned for taking a bite of the apple and getting Adam to do the same. She is the source of Original Sin. She is the reason women must suffer in childbirth. Eve is, at least metaphorically, the mother of us all.
The consequences of Adam and Eve’s temptation are epic. In the Book of Genesis (NASV: Chapter 3), God tells her,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
To Adam, God says,
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.”
Eve’s punishment was to endure great physical pain in childbirth and to submit to the rule of Man. Adam’s punishment was to farm the land and eat veggies. You don’t have to be feminist to sense the inequity.
At Landslide Lit, we don’t view Eve as a villain but a woman who wondered,“What’s so amazing about that fruit?” She craved knowledge. In fact, the curiosity and tenacity that got her into trouble with God probably helped her survive after The Fall. Every evening, Adam would complain about toiling in the fields. Eve would listen attentively, as was her Godly duty, without comparing his discomfort to hers in childbirth. As if things weren’t tough enough, Adam and Eve lost their oldest sons — Cain murdered Abel in a jealous rage, then talked back to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” He was sentenced to wander for the rest of his life.
A tough life. Nevertheless, Eve (and Adam) persisted.
What sort of writing are we looking for?
We recognize that the story of Adam and Eve exists in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, though with varied interpretations. We’d love to hear from adults of all ethnic groups, genders and creeds in any nation.
We enjoy writing that is accessible but rich with imagery and insight. We love the melody of language. We love to be surprised.
We invite submissions of short stories, memoir, personal essay, and poetry. We like experimental pieces, as long as they are accessible to the reading public.
Prose must be 2,000 words or less. Poets may send up to three poems separately. We expect polished manuscripts with very little need for editing; however, we will sometimes make small revision suggestions.
Our preference is for stories and poems that will remain relevant as time progresses. We are not the place for religious or cultural rants, current events, or opinion pieces. Avoid profanity unless it serves the purpose of your story. We follow Medium standards for publishing, which you can read here.
We accept reprints at least one year after publication if you have maintained full rights. In these cases, we ask you share attribution to the orignal publisher.
Here are some writing prompts —
Weave Eve into a story or poem, as a character, an archetype, a wife, a mother. Has there been an Eve in your life? What would you have done if you were she? If you were Adam? What do you imagine Eve’s life to be like after The Fall? Tell the story of a modern day Adam and Eve. Use their experience in The Garden (and after) as a jumping off point for a story/poem. Imagine what was happening in the minds of all involved. Seems like every character, including God and the serpent, had something at stake!
Reimagine the Genesis story. Let your muse take the lead.
Here’s how to submit to our publication —
If you are a Medium user, please pitch your idea to Kimberly and Bonnie by clicking here and sending an email. Please include the first paragraph of your work-in-progress.
You must be a Medium user to pitch an idea to us. We cannot upload stories from non-Medium writers. If we tried to do so, your writing would be attributed to one of us!
About your rights — Most publication venues consider a blog story as published. Medium.com is a blog; thus, you should not send anything you intend to publish elsewhere.
With Medium.com, you maintain full rights to publish your work. Here are the Medium terms of service.
Deadline — We’ll accept submissions on this topic through November 30, 2022. Meanwhile, we continue to accept regular submissions aligned with our general theme — Growing. Older. Bolder. Wiser. Stories and poems about transformational moments, such as the one lyricist Stevie Nicks had while looking at the Colorado Rockies. Listen to any version of the song, “Landslide,” and you’ll know what we mean.
Don’t let the landslide bring you down!
Editors Kimberly Garts Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson have our MFA’s in Writing from the Naslund-Mann School of Creative and Professional Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY., USA. We are co-editors of The Boom Project: Voices of a Generation (Butler Books 2019) — an anthology of poetry and prose by baby boomers of the Ohio River Valley. Bonnie writes fiction and creative nonfiction. Kim writes creative nonfiction and some poetry.
