First Drafts—Open Call
Deadline: October 30, 2021

A first draft is usually something a writer hopes never sees the light of day. It is often too rough and more likely to land on the bottom of a desk drawer rather than in the hands of a publisher. However, inspired by the freedom Anne Turyn gave the authors she worked with for Top Stories and in awe of the writers she managed to give their first publishing opportunity to, we concluded: this is a risk worth taking! With this new series we aim to focus on publishing the work of young writers whose work is simply too weird or experimental for commercial publishers.

Mind you though, when we say young we don’t mean young in age necessarily—we mean young in the form of writing you are taking up. Maybe the draft you submit is the first attempt you’ve made to ever write a narrative-based manuscript, but you’ve written more standard art criticism your whole life. Or maybe it’s the first time you’ve written at all, instead usually working in another medium altogether. This is fine by us!

For this inaugural Open Call are welcoming the submission of complete but not-yet finalised or published manuscripts of any kind. They can be written in any language, but must be accompanied by an English translation (to assist with the editorial process). Artists and writers based in the Netherlands will receive preferential treatment, however we also welcome anyone who truly feels addressed by this open call, the Netherlands aside. If all this sounds good then please submit to this open call by filling in this form before October 30.

The candidate we will go forward with will receive a fee of €2000 as well as ongoing editorial, production and promotional support from the team at Kunstverein. Your book will be printed in an edition of 200 copies and distributed worldwide with the help of our distributor Idea Books.