Submissions

Interested in sharing your story?

About Submissions

We’re looking for personal essays and poems about life as an Indian person in Singapore, to be published on this website. Submissions should centre on the experience of being an ethnic minority in a multicultural society, as well as any gendered aspects of this experience. 

In selecting submissions, we will prioritise women’s voices, and will feature primarily women  writers. However, we accept submissions from writers of all genders. If you are not a woman and would like to contribute writing that focuses on issues of Indianness and gender, please do write in.

Submission Criteria

  1. The author should identify as an Indian and have lived in Singapore for a minimum of  five years. 
  2. We will be providing an honorarium of SGD$100 per submission selected for publication. 
  3. You may write to [email protected] to either pitch your essay/poem idea to us first before beginning to write, or to submit a draft. If we are interested in your pitch or draft, we will contact you.  
  4. Stories will be selected with the aim to reflect the diversity of experiences in Singapore.
  5. You do not need to have written or been published formally in order to send in your story. 
  6. You may submit a previously published article if you have the copyright. Otherwise, you need to get the permission of the publisher or whichever body holds the copyright. Do let us know if you are sending us a reprint. 
  7. Submissions should touch on cultural norms and lived experiences of being socialised  as an Indian in Singapore. Some suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
    a. Understanding your Indian identity along the lines of: language, socioeconomic  status, skin colour, caste, sexuality, gender identity, religion, immigration, etc.
    b. Coping with microaggressions, internalised and/or systemic racism,
    c.     Stereotypes and taboos
  8. Your submission should primarily be in English. Please write to us if you would like to  submit your story in another language instead. 
  9. Your stories can either be in the form of poems (no word limit) or essays (between 1,000-2,000 words approximately).
  10. Authors can also choose to interview older family members and write a reflective piece about their family member’s experience, with their consent. Do contact us at [email protected] beforehand if you are interested in doing so.
  11. We would prefer it if you did not use a pen name for your submission(s). However, if you wish to mask your identity for legal and/or safety reasons, do contact us at [email protected] and let us know.

Details

  1. Submissions will be accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis. 
  2. Email your stories to [email protected], with the subject line “Growing Up Indian  Website Submission”. 
  3. Send submissions in a Word Document, using Arial font size 11. 
  4. Include the title of your piece, your name/pen-name, and a 50-word author biography in  the text of the document. 
  5. All submissions selected for the anthology will be edited by our team. More details on  the editorial process will be discussed with you should your submission be selected.
  6. The editors reserve the right to reject submissions based on inappropriate content,  including (but not limited to) disrespect towards individuals, groups, cultures and  religions.
  7. For more information, please contact [email protected].

We’re looking for personal essays and poems about life as an Indian person in Singapore, to be published on this website. Submissions should centre on the experience of being an ethnic minority in a multicultural society, as well as any gendered aspects of this experience. 

In selecting submissions, we will prioritise women’s voices, and will feature primarily women  writers. However, we accept submissions from writers of all genders. If you are not a woman and would like to contribute writing that focuses on issues of Indianness and gender, please do write in.

  1. The author should identify as an Indian and have lived in Singapore for a minimum of  five years. 
  2. We will be providing an honorarium of SGD$100 per submission selected for publication. 
  3. You may write to [email protected] to either pitch your essay/poem idea to us first before beginning to write, or to submit a draft. If we are interested in your pitch or draft, we will contact you.  
  4. Stories will be selected with the aim to reflect the diversity of experiences in Singapore.
  5. You do not need to have written or been published formally in order to send in your story. 
  6. You may submit a previously published article if you have the copyright. Otherwise, you need to get the permission of the publisher or whichever body holds the copyright. Do let us know if you are sending us a reprint. 
  7. Submissions should touch on cultural norms and lived experiences of being socialised  as an Indian in Singapore. Some suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
    a. Understanding your Indian identity along the lines of: language, socioeconomic  status, skin colour, caste, sexuality, gender identity, religion, immigration, etc.
    b. Coping with microaggressions, internalised and/or systemic racism,
    c.     Stereotypes and taboos
  8. Your submission should primarily be in English. Please write to us if you would like to  submit your story in another language instead. 
  9. Your stories can either be in the form of poems (no word limit) or essays (between 1,000-2,000 words approximately).
  10. Authors can also choose to interview older family members and write a reflective piece about their family member’s experience, with their consent. Do contact us at [email protected] beforehand if you are interested in doing so.
  11. We would prefer it if you did not use a pen name for your submission(s). However, if you wish to mask your identity for legal and/or safety reasons, do contact us at [email protected] and let us know.
  1. Submissions will be accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis. 
  2. Email your stories to [email protected], with the subject line “Growing Up Indian  Website Submission”. 
  3. Send submissions in a Word Document, using Arial font size 11. 
  4. Include the title of your piece, your name/pen-name, and a 50-word author biography in  the text of the document. 
  5. All submissions selected for the anthology will be edited by our team. More details on  the editorial process will be discussed with you should your submission be selected.
  6. The editors reserve the right to reject submissions based on inappropriate content,  including (but not limited to) disrespect towards individuals, groups, cultures and  religions.
  7. For more information, please contact [email protected].

The Growing Up Indian project is a dedicated space for Indian women’s narratives. Through personal essays and poems, writers explore what it means to be Indian, what it means to be a woman, and how these identities intersect.

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