REFUSE: A Journal of Iconoclasms

is inviting submissions for Issue #2! 

The editorial team of Incite Seminars’ home-grown post-academic journal REFUSE: A Journal of Iconoclasms is open to submissions for its second issue on the themes of refusal, refuse, and repair.

REFUSE: A Journal of Iconoclasms (ISSN 2767-1194) embraces the multidimensional and ambiguous meaning of the term “refuse.” To refuse is to be unwilling to do or perform that which one considers unacceptable. Refuse is matter that has been thrown away, deemed worthless. To re(-)fuse is to bond together that which has been broken; to repair. 

Iconoclasm is the intentional destruction of traditional cultural images, monuments, and doctrines. Places from which the force of authority and discipline emanates are, from the perspective of iconoclasts, the ruins of tradition. In our refusal of the dominant, default and disciplinary, we reclaim and celebrate cultural productions and forms of knowing that have been trashed and neglected, and in doing so repair the severed connections in our collective mycelium, fertilizing possibilities for new life in the ruins.  

We welcome writers, artists, and scholars of all stripes (independent, affiliated, contingent, recovering, fringe) to join us in growing a platform for full-bodied and unapologetic refusal of societal bunk.  

Some questions and themes we are personally wrestling with this year include (but are not limited to): 

• Refusing to go back to “normal” pre-quarantine world
• Refusing the rational and opening up to the mystical
• Refusing dominant dating, family, and life-making narratives
• Refusing work (or, the work of refusal)
• Refusing established systems of accreditation, recognition, and permission
• Ways that refusal creates an exigency for recovery (of self, soul, sanity) and what is entailed in that process 
• Refusing to pin down, to judge, and to interpret ourselves and others (in the spirit of faithfulness to the fullness of reality)

We welcome submissions of original writings and multimedia artworks (shareable on the web) in the form of essays, manifestos, commentaries, letters, autotheory, short fiction, poetry, junk theory, real and imaginary interviews, scores/instructions, sutras, banishing and protective rituals and spells, fashion statements, responses to/collages of rejection letters, photographs, and memes.  

TIMELINE: 

• Initial pitch submissions: Oct 15th, 2021
• First submission of full articles/pieces: Dec 15th, 2021
• Final submissions: Feb 15th, 2022
• Publication: April 1, 2022 

Submissions should be sent to refuse.submission@gmail.com with a brief explanation of how you think the piece fits with the aims & scope of the journal. Pitches can be included directly in the email. Full draft submissions are welcome. Send written submissions as an editable Word document. Please also include a two-sentence author bio. We prefer submissions that have not been published elsewhere, or that have been substantially modified to fit the spirit of our journal.