call for submissions: dangerous terrain
dancing girl press & studio invites submissions for a new anthology project centered around how today's authors confront and explore the ecogothic. The project will bring together curated writings across genre, including poems, stories, essays, and hybrid work. At the intersection of ecological concerns and literary culture, the ecogothic examines how how traditional gothic modes—decay, haunting, the uncanny, terror—can articulate anxieties about humanity's troubled relationship with the natural world (climate change, habitat destruction, and more). It also presents considerations of how humans respond with fear to certain landscapes (the darkened woods, the endless moors, an icy tundra) as well as the psychological effect of place and terrain on the human mind and creativity. The ecogothic fittingly reveals how horror and the supernatural can make visible ecological crises that might otherwise remain abstract or invisible, transforming environmental dread into some kind of narrative form on the page.
We invite all literary genres and types of writing, including hybrid work that combines genres in interesting new ways. While the end result will be a printed perfect bound anthology, we also plan to create a corresponding website, which could potentially feature multi-media and visual projects as well that do not work in print format as a digital exhibition. As a feminist press, we welcome submissions women, non-binary and trans authors, as well as female-centric work from male writers as well. Previously published work is allowed with proper attribution.
While we cannot pay contributors, each included author will receive a copy of the anthology as payment, as well as a discount on additional copies upon request. The anthology will be available both through the dgp shop and on Amazon.
Deadline: January 15th, 2026
Expected Publication Date: April 2026
To Submit:
Send submissions to dancinggirlpress (at) yahoo (dot com). Please use the subject line "ecogothicsubmission_(your last name). This will prevent submissions getting caught up in our spam filters. If your work is chosen, we will also request a bio for the anthology, so feel free to include one with your submission, but a formal cover letter is optional.
Poetry
3-5 poems in a single MSWord document or in the body of the email.
Fiction
Flash fiction or short fiction, anywhere in the 200-3000 word range.
Essays
Up to 5000 words
Artwork / Multi-Media
3-5 pieces, send files or links to work elsewhere
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