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Abracadabra, we’re making a magic issue!
For our May/June issue, Anthropology News is practicing its card flourish. Whether you have a story about language use and the magical state, a peek into the social world of stage magicians, or an archaeological tale of magic in ancient Greece, we want to hear it. What might magic show us about the history of anthropology? What do our experiences of and beliefs about magic tell us about being human?
We’ll be learning the art of misdirection and waving a wand to reveal magical experiences, conjurers, sorcery, illusions, tricks, artifacts, and hocus-pocus of all kinds. We invite you to pick a card, any card, and to join us on a magical journey into the human condition.
We seek pitches that approach magic, broadly conceived, from a range of international perspectives, in the form of feature stories/essays, photo essays, graphic ethnography comics or illustrations, and short sound or film pieces. Creative approaches to the essay form are welcome.
Please send a 300-word pitch that outlines the story or argument of your piece, and a 50-word author bio to [email protected] by February 3, 2023. For a photo essay pitch, please include one or two images. For graphic ethnography, include examples of your comic-strip or illustration work. For a sound or film piece, include a short clip.
First drafts will be due by March 1 and will go through a developmental process with the AN editor. Final stories will be due by April 14. Full feature stories are ~2,000 words. Photo essays comprise six–eight high resolution images and a 750-word introductory essay. Graphic ethnography pieces span up to six print pages. Sound and film pieces should be no longer than 10 minutes in length. Content will publish in the May/June 2023 print magazine and on the AN website.