Voices Blog: Piecing Together Indigenous Identity Series for 2027

June 10th-September 30th

Polyphony Lit is now open to submissions for a Voices Blog series centered around indigenous creators called "Piecing Together Indigenous Identity"

Indigenous identity is not a rigid monolith, but a vibrant mosaic. It is shaped by a variety of sources, whether that is a geographic affinity, a community tradition, or a fragment of a story passed down throughout generations. Historically, colonialism has acted as a force of disruption, scattering our traditions and fragmenting our histories. Yet, indigenous people hold the power to gather these scattered pieces and weave them back together. This blog series invites indigenous creators to reflect on the small moments, memories, and fragments of daily life that contribute to their understanding of native identity. Whether you are reflecting on traditional indigenous myths, history and geography, or your own personal experiences, we would love to hear from indigenous youth who are passionate about art as a medium for decolonization and cultural resistance.

This is an open call for poetry, fiction, CNF, nonfiction articles, and visual art. We are seeking work created by indigenous youth age 12-25.

Selected works will be featured in the blog series, which we plan to launch in 2027, if we receive enough submissions.

This submission opportunity is separate from Polyphony Lit's seasonal issues. Submissions for this category will be considered for blog publication and not for publication in our seasonal issues. Constructive critique will not be provided for submission to this blog series.

To read some works from our previous blog series, please check out "Love in the Time of Banned Books" and "Wake Up, the War Is Here."

Blog Series Submission Guidelines

• Submissions will open on June 10th 2026 and will remain open until at least September 30th 2026 or until we reach our submission cap of 200 submissions.
• Please note that this is a separate submission category from Polyphony Lit's Volume 20 and Polyphony Lit's seasonal contests.​ Constructive critique will not be provided for submission to this blog series.

Writer Qualifications​

• We are seeking work created by indigenous youth age 12-25. For ease of reference, we roughly define this as writers who identify as North American Indigenous Peoples (Eg: Navajo nation, Blackfeet tribe, Native Village, Nome Eskimo Community, First Nations, etc). and writers who identify as Central / South America Indigenous Peoples (for example: Amerindian, K’iche’, Yucatec, Miskitos, Quechua, Chibcha, etc). However, we understand that people of Indigenous descent often come from many different backgrounds, so we hope that you will not be limited in any way by these categories.
• Works may be written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. If your piece is written primarily in one of these languages, but also features brief words or phrases written in another language, then we will certainly consider multilingual pieces like this, but please keep in mind that our contest readers will only be able to provide English translations for the languages listed above. For multilingual words and phrases, you are welcome to provide English translations of your own as footnotes or as part of the context in the piece. If you would like to submit a piece written entirely in another language, then please email julian@polyphonylit.org to inquire if any our editors would be open to provide translations in another language.
• If you are fluent in an indigenous language and interested in volunteering as a translator in order to open up this opportunity to even more indigenous submitters, please also email julian@polyphonylit.org.
• Submit a maximum of three pieces.
• If submitting multiple pieces, please upload as separate submissions. Multiple pieces submitted in a single document may be withdrawn, and you may be asked to resubmit your pieces separately.
• We accept simultaneous submissions and work that has been published elsewhere. If submitting previously published work, please send a message in Submittable noting where and when your work has been published, and if it is eligible for republication. If it is accepted for publication elsewhere after submitting to Polyphony Lit, please notify us immediately but do not withdraw your submission if you are still interested in publication at Polyphony Lit. If we accept a previously published submission for publication, we will acknowledge the place of the original publication.
• Submissions for the blog series are not eligible for the Claudia Ann Seaman Awards.

Length

• Poetry must be 80 lines or less.
• Prose must be 1,800 words or less.

Formatting

• Do not put your name on the piece, as all work is blind juried.
• Submissions longer than one page should have the page number inserted at the top (right or left side) of every page, as it would help our Judge specify the location for their commentary.
• We accept submission in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats.
• We prefer common conventions:                                             
  • Color: Black & white
  • Font Size: 12 pt throughout, including titles
  • Font Type: Times or Times New Roman
  • Margins: 1-inch at the top and bottom, and 1.25 inch at the left and right. One space after periods. There should be no extra returns after paragraphs unless you have a meaningful reason for the extra space. 

   

Using Submittable

• Please upload submissions through Submittable. We do not accept email submissions or hard copies via mail.
• Upload only one piece per submission file; to submit more than one piece, make more than one submission file.
• Submissions are free.
• There is a submission cap of 200 submissions, so we may close submissions for the opportunity before the deadline if we receive 200 submissions. We recommend submitting early, to ensure that you do not miss the deadline.