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long con magazine is an international quarterly that publishes art about art. While based in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (known by settlers as Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), we welcome submissions from established & emerging artists across the world.
Submissions are accepted year-round on a rolling basis, and we publish digital issues in winter, spring, summer, and fall.
long con magazine, long con workshops, and Collusion Books are a unified not-for-profit operation. All revenue and donations are used to compensate contributors and to keep the lights on.
For future submission calls, follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter.
long con was founded on the idea that all artworks exist in conversation with all other artworks, and the magazine’s purpose is to publish artworks that bring this long conversation to the surface.
For us, “art about art” means artworks created in direct response to other objects, artifacts, or performances that can be considered “art”—including all forms of writing, gallery & theatre arts, and pop culture (fashion, sports, comics); infrastructure (monuments, architecture, tools); ephemera (ads, memes, user manuals); propaganda (parades, political speeches); and non-human creations (elephant paintings, bird nests, insect dances).
Despite this expansiveness in our definition of “art,” we do not publish artworks that skip over engagement with individual objects, artifacts, and performances in order to respond only to the entirety of an artist’s oeuvre or an artistic movement, period, or form.
If you’re still not sure whether your artwork would be a good fit, please ask us at longconmag@gmail.com.
Visual, video, audio, & interactive submissions must be unpublished in any print or digital magazine, anthology, or book but may have been otherwise already exhibited, performed, released, or circulated. You may submit up to 6 individual artworks.
Literary submissions (including translations) must be unpublished in any print or digital form. Poetry & prose poetry submissions may include up to 4 poems or one long poem / sequence. Fiction & script submissions may include short pieces up to 10 pages (up to 10 pages total) or single pieces (up to 15 pages). We do not publish nonfiction (whether creative essay, review, interview, or otherwise).
For us to consider publishing your artwork, you must include an artist statement that identifies—by title, creator name, and year, whenever possible—the object(s), artifact(s), or performance(s) to which your artwork responds. See our latest issues for examples.
Because long con is a niche magazine, our publication rate is higher than usual (between 10% and 20% of submissions received per issue). Nevertheless, we cannot consider or respond to submissions outside our permanent theme.
Our response time is 3 to 4 months, depending on when you submit. Logistically, we cannot respond to off-theme submissions and those sent by email without prior approval; these do not receive responses.
Simultaneous submissions are encouraged. The con is long but life is short, so submit wherever you want! If your submission is accepted elsewhere, please email us to withdraw it as soon as possible.
Collaborative submissions are encouraged. In the context of long con, ‘collaboration’ means two or more artists creating a shared response to another work of art or culture. (Two or more artists responding to each other should consider submitting to Collusion Books, our chapbook press for collaborative projects.)
Contributor payment is CAD$50, or CAD$25 for short literary contributions (poetry under 50 lines total or prose under 1000 words total). Compensation is delayed: we are in the process of paying all past contributors and will reach out as soon as our payments catch up to the issue in which your work appears. The current wait time between publication and compensation is approximately six issues.
Past contributors must wait one year (i.e., four issues) before submitting again. If we’ve published you as a solo artist but you wish to submit a collaborative piece (or vice versa), you may disregard this waiting period.
Artist copyright always remains with you, the artist(s). Through contributor payment, long con purchases only the right to publish your work for the first time in periodical form. You don’t need our permission to re-publish or otherwise present your work after its inclusion in a long con issue.
Our acceptance rate ranges from 10% to 20% of submissions per issue, which means all on-theme work is carefully considered and has a relatively high chance of being accepted. We like this high acceptance rate! It’s part of the reason we keep our permanent theme in place.
In recognition of the many historical and immediate barriers to artistic creation and recognition, we prioritize submissions from First Nation, Inuit, Métis, and other Indigenous artists; Black artists, Brown artists, artists of colour, and other racialized artists; 2SLGBTQIA+ artists; artists with disabilities or chronic illnesses; and artists with experiences of trauma, incarceration, poverty, or displacement.
Help us make more informed editorial decisions by identifying any backgrounds or experiences that have made it more difficult for you to create art or be recognized for your artistic labour. These backgrounds and experiences don’t need to be addressed in your submission, bio, or artist statement: include them in the “Additional notes for the editors” field to ensure they remain confidential.
If your names, artistic names, or pronouns change after we’ve published you, we would be very happy to help you celebrate by quickly correcting our website: please feel free to let us know at longconmag@gmail.com.
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Email us at longconmag@gmail.com
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