CALL FOR PITCHES + SUBMISSIONS
Issue 04: flood
The Vermin is returning for its fourth issue. We’re looking for work that explores the theme “flood.” Flood might be the central metaphor of our current conjuncture: a crashing catastrophe; a deluge that empire cannot contain. While imperialism seeks to weaponize, contain, and regulate water, flood is a force of resistance against enclosure. It erupts and spreads beyond control, breaking confinement and re-shaping landscapes irreversibly.
The most relevant invocation of flood took place on October 7, 2023. Operation Tūfān Al-Aqsa, the watershed moment in which the Palestinian resistance broke the fence encircling Gaza, evoked flood explicitly. Tūfān (often translated as flood, storm, or deluge) is an allusion to the Biblical-Quranic parable of the plagues sent upon the people of Pharoah who insisted on remaining complicit in Pharoah’s tyranny and oppression against the Children of Israel. In this sense, flood is the form of redress being propelled by the resistance over the lip of an imprisoning container to wash away the architecture of the unjust.
Since Oct. 7, the US-Israeli axis has wrought carnage over the region. Yet water remains a crucial site of sovereignty and self-determination – both symbolically and materially. After the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, Iran has obstructed the flow of trade through the Strait of Hormuz. Dams, canals, straits and levies are today deployed as critical nodes against colonial infrastructure and the movement of capital.
Water defies territorialization in many ways, moving around political borders that order the containment of people. With time and a warming planet, flood waters rise. They consume landmasses, rebuking the boundaries that states claim sacrosanct ownership over. Floods can also result from seepage, spreading gradually in the way that some idealogues aspire that the conceits of their movements may spread. Over time, water erodes landscapes. Rockfaces around the world are scarred by ancient river flows, canyons characterized by the persistent wear of water flow.
In light of that irrepressibility, how can we think with the flood? When is the exact moment of watershed? When do waters surpass containment? What is the symbolic significance of this volatility of floods for our transformative thought?
We are seeking previously unpublished works that break containment and bring sediment up to the surface. We are looking for writers exploring flood both metaphorically and literally. Submissions and pitches can explore (but are certainly not limited to):
- Water and the regulation of water
- Oceans and lakes
- Imperialism and anti-imperialism
- Flow and movement, current and eruption
- Revolution and resistance
- Other interpretations are welcome!
As a multi- and anti-genre publication, we strongly encourage experiments with form, viscosity and porosity. In the past, we’ve accepted art criticism, political essays, fiction, manifestos, poetry, visual art, photography, graffiti, videos and sculpture.
Submission Guidelines
- All submissions must be sent through this form.
- Submissions must be original and unpublished. However, we do accept previously exhibited art works (please specify in your application).
- Submissions can come in all forms listed above.
Pitch Guidelines
- All pitches must be sent through this form.
- Pitches must be original and unpublished. However, we do accept previously exhibited art works (please specify in your application).
- We do not accept pitches for poetry. Pitches are ideally for longform essays, criticism, and other experimental forms. If you are pitching an experimental piece, we require a small sample of the work such that our Editorial Team can visualize how the piece will fit into the rest of the magazine.
- We expect artists to complete works within a month of their pitch being approved, but can accommodate if the work needs more time.
Style
- We do not have a house style. However, we do not publish academic essays or academic manuscripts. While theoretical writing is welcome and encouraged, such essays must be written with a broader audience in mind.
Compensation
The Vermin is a volunteer-run, donation-funded publication. For issue 04, we will be offering honorariums in the following breakdown. We regret that this cannot be more:
- Poems, short-form pieces, visual art pieces: CAD$70
- Long-form pieces (over 900 words): CAD$140
- In addition, all contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the magazine.
Deadline: Aug. 31, 2026, 11:59pm EST