ARTS By The People / Platform Review
There are presently no open calls for submissions.
Platform Review is an ARTS By The People project. ARTS By The People is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is to establish, operate, promote, and conduct educational programs, opportunities, classes, and sessions in the creative arts for the public, especially seniors and youth.
Platform Review developed from ARTS by the People’s popular open-mic nights. First-time readers who attend our literary open mic, The Platform, receive a second round of applause for having the courage to present their work to an audience. We strive to create an environment that welcomes and encourages writers at all stages of their craft. Our journal, Platform Review, is focused on bringing this same tone of inclusivity and community by creating a journal that can be enjoyed by our local community and audiences outside New Jersey. We encourage new voices. We want submissions from never-before-published writers and visual artists, as well as those with more experience.
ARTS by the People is located in one of the most diverse states in the nation. Almost one-quarter of our population was born outside of the U,S. Our mission is to showcase creative work that reflects the diversity of our region. We especially invite submissions from those who have been historically underrepresented in the arts. Good literary and artistic work builds bridges, strengthens understanding, and fosters acceptance of all peoples. Thus, Platform Review strives to promote artists and writers whose voices have been silenced or ignored by mainstream media, including Black, Indigenous and People of Color, LGBTQIA2S+, people with disabilities, and people of all ages. We encourage submissions from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, but we are also open to compelling voices from those who live outside this region.
Platform Review is published quarterly.
Guidelines to submit: We ask that you not submit work that has been previously published in print or online. Tell us if you’ve attended or participated in any ARTS by the People events and where you reside. Include a brief, third-person bio (50-100 words) in your cover letter. If your poem, story, or essay is accepted by another journal, please notify us immediately through Submittable or by emailing editors@artsbythepeople.org.
Poetry: Submit up to five poems in one document with each new poem beginning on a new page (no more than eight pages total). We accept translations of poems. For translations, please also include the original text. Don’t put your name or personal information on the poetry pages, but list the titles of your poem(s) in your cover letter.
Prose: Submit one piece, up to 5,000 words. We accept many kinds of prose, from fiction to autobiography to non-fiction, though we are most interested in lyric essays (written as prose, but with a poetic sensibility) and experimental pieces. Don’t put your name or personal information on your pages, but list the title of your piece in your cover letter.
Visual Art: Platform Review is open for submissions of visual art in any medium. We are currently accepting artists for 2023. We are particularly interested in experimental work that takes risks, whether through narrative or process. Please submit 1-5 pieces as high-resolution .JPEGs for consideration. Files should be 300 DPI, at least 1500 pixels on the short side, and no larger than 5mb. In the cover letter section on Submittable please also include a 100-300 word artist statement. In your artist statement, please include a description of the process or mediums used for the pieces you are submitting.
By submitting you give ARTS By The People First North American Serial Rights to publish your work for our online journal Platform Review. All rights revert back to the author upon publication. We ask acknowledgment if the author chooses to republish any accepted pieces. Platform Review accepts submissions exclusively through our online submission manager. You are more than welcome to submit to more than one genre. However, if you have recently been published by Platform Review, we ask that you wait a year before submitting to us again.
To keep submissions free, donations at ARTS By the People are appreciated. Any questions? Feel free to email us at editors@artsbythepeople.org.