Submissions

Each issue of Manifestations has both a muse and an editor.

Issue Muse: Ibn ‘Arabi – Islamic poet, scholar, and saint. Let the muse inspire you with his poetry at  The Ibn ‘Arabi Society.

A taste of his work is below:

Poem 14 of the Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, translated by R.A. Nicholson.

He saw the lightning in the east and longed for the east,
but if it had flashed in the west he would have longed for the west.
My desire is for the lightning and its gleam, not for the places and the earth.

The east wind related to me from them a tradition handed down successively,
from distracted thoughts,
from my passion,
from anguish,
from my tribulation,
From rapture,
from my reason,
from yearning,
from ardour,
from tears,
from my eyelid,
from fire,
from my heart,
That “He whom you love is between your ribs; the breaths toss him from side to side.”

I said to the east wind, “Bring a message to him and say that he is the enkindler of the fire within my heart
If it shall be quenched, then everlasting union, and if it shall burn, then no blame to the lover!”

Issue Editor:  Barbara Flaherty – Poet, editor, and lover of godly folly. Barbara is the author of two books, Holy Madness (Chanting Press 2007) and Doing It Another Way: The Basic Text (Chanting Press 2008). She has published poems and essays in various journals, anthologies, and encyclopedia.

Spring Theme: The Journey

Submissions are open from   to   .

Submission Guidelines:

We are looking for poetry, short story, nonfiction, book excerpts, essays, interviews, book or movie reviews, original music, visual art, and media that address archetypal themes of the encounter with the sacred, of spiritual passage, interfaith edges, transformation of the inner person, or the spirituality of relationship with the earth/cosmos/each other. All submissions must in some way speak to the spiritual life. They may reflect a religious tradition or not. Doctrinal and credal discussions are not appropriate for this literary and artistic journal, and are for another venue. Read a little Ibn “Arabi (see below) or Han Shan; or read the old Manifestations Ezine for examples of the type of writing we are looking for.

Fiction and Nonfiction: Submission is limited to 6 pages and should be submitted in Times New Roman 12 pt., double spaced.
Poetry: Submission is limited to 5 poems, each on their own page, in Times New Roman 12 pt., single-spaced.
Translations: Translations should be accompanied by the work in its original language.
Interviews: Written interviews must be accompanied by a recorded track that verifies the authenticity of responses within the interview, or by a written signed statement from the person interviewed that this interview reflects the actual conversation.
A Biographical Tale: Of known or unknown persons  – saints, holy ones, apostates whose lives reflect the sacred moving within and among us.
A Short Teaching Story: From a tradition and written in your own words, no longer than 500 words.
Book and Movie Reviews: Reviews are limited to 500 words, double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman.
Visual Arts: Submissions for visual arts should be made in jpg or png formats. The work must be your own and reflect on a spiritual theme.
Video or Audio: Submissions should be in MPG 3 0r MPG 4.

Troubadour Submissions:

Francis of Assisi’s Tunic
The spiritual founder of Manifestations is that wild wooly troubadour of the Great King, that servant lover of God and creation, who walked away from the cultural and religious conditioning of his day, roamed the woods, lived among the poor and outcast, crossed interfaith and political boundaries, that seeker of justice, the man who wrote the first Italian language poem, who sang songs, and played a fiddle made of sticks, the one that is quoted in Alcoholics Annonymous texts, or seen in gardens with birds, who blessed all creatures, the saint of artists, of ecology, and those who have bottomed out, that lover of the way of Jesus, that man of faith. Every issue of Manifestations includes some artistic response in words, visual art, or music to the spiritual teachings of his life. Try it out, poets, musicians, artists, troubadours of every way!
Submissions for “The Odd Sermon:” The Odd Sermon is a writer’s work in self discovery, a preaching to the self and everyone else, a poking fun, a wild guidance. The divine may send the odd unexpected audacious and sometimes wacky preacher from within to confront the writer, and the rest of us as well, with unexpected truth. The Odd Sermon is published anonymously to give the writer the latitude needed for such playfulness.
Submission Agreement
By submitting any writing you are granting one time online publishing rights to Manifestations Literary Journal, and guaranteeing it is your own work and free from copyright restrictions. Submissions should be sent to our submission manager with the genre in the title box. We are unable to offer you any money for your submission. This is not a lucrative venture, but thank you for the gift of creativity you offer to the world.

To Submit:

For text: please use this Submission Manager and include a brief biography of 150 w0rds.

For photos, artwork, video, and audio, please email the work with a brief biography of 150 words and a brief description of the work to manifestationsjournal@gmail.com

We thank Han Shan and Shi De of Cold Mountain fame for gracing our pages. They are the caretakers of this site.