The theme of the next issue of Ayris is YOUTH.
Deadline: July 1st, 2021
When we were children, everything was a new experience. We were small, and the world was vast. Even if we didn’t always enjoy the rituals of school, we could not help but learn and absorb the endless fountain of information around us. Everything we saw and did in our childhood held great influence over the people we are today.
Do you have a specific memory, something that happened to you as a kid that you’re certain you’ll never forget? A precious moment you hold dear to your heart, or an instance when you felt immense fear or anxiety? Is there an object or location that when you reflect upon it you are struck with great nostalgia? A childhood friend you haven’t heard from in nearly a decade but you still remember their favorite color? A song that played on the radio when you were four that still gets stuck in your head sometimes? Your first high school job, when you got to experience “the real world” for the first time and realized that maybe it wasn’t all it was hyped up to be? When you reflect on your youth, is there a specific smell you can recall? A taste? An emotion?
For many creatives, childhood was when we were the most creative. Our imaginations were limitless and wild and free. We could be anything we wanted to be just by setting our minds to it. Can you remember the moment you first realized you wanted to become an artist or writer? What sort of work were you creating before the pressures of societal expectations took hold?
For this issue, we want to see art or writing that encompasses the concept of youth, taking inspiration from your own childhood, or in some way explores the experience of youth in a broader sense. You can create a brand new piece, or you can submit work you’ve produced within the past few months that you feel explores your personal interpretation of the meaning of youth.
We look forward to your submission and building this issue of Ayris in conversation with YOUTH.
We only consider work from NEC/NHIA students, faculty, and alumni.
We encourage you to submit in as many categories as you want, but please follow these suggestions for each medium:
- Poetry: Please submit an assortment of works for us to consider, suggested 5-7.
- Prose: Because of the short attention span of the internet, we find the most successful lengths for prose hover around 3000-5000 words. That said, we are certainly open to longer work, and would be interested in serializing work into the future.
- Visual Art: Limit of ten pieces. We understand you might not have access to professional quality photographing of your work, but please do your best to provide images that are publication-ready.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted with the understanding that you will notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere. We do not consider previously published works.
For any questions or comments, please contact rflaherty@nec.edu
Please submit up to ten pieces of your work. Images should be 72 dpi and publication-ready.
In your cover letter, tell us a little about yourself and your affiliation with NEC (just a few sentences). Also list the medium or mediums of your submitted works.
Please submit work as one document.
In your cover letter, tell us a little about yourself and your affiliation with NEC (just a few sentences).
For High School Students.
Ayris is a student and faculty-run creative arts journal showcasing the best work of the New England College arts and writing students, faculty, and alumni. By exhibiting the growth and talent of NEC students in a single publication, our goal is to encourage further achievement within our community and foster a conversation between diverse artistic disciplines.
Through the years, Ayris has worked with high school students through our pre-college program to get young creative artists and writers ready to seriously hone their craft. In the spirit of this effort, we’re opening a call for submissions from high-school students across the country. We want to see what makes you unique as a creative, what you can bring to the art world that no one else can.
We look forward to your submission!