Mermaids – half fish and half human – have a long cultural history, from the Wild Man of Orford to Hans Christian Andersen and Walt Disney – even Starbucks Coffee.

Our own process through this project has been looking specifically at the mermaid as a figure anchored in two or more communities with its needs met by neither.

But Poems Underwater is a collaborative project seeking to explore the figure of the mermaid from as many different creative viewpoints as possible.

We are looking for submissions of new artworks and writing to join the discussion and to be featured in a Poems Underwater zine and exhibition / poetry reading this September. Themes could include (but are not limited to):

• queerness
• migration
• crossing borders
• living in two or more places
• feminism
• waterways
• sea creatures
• hybrids
• new versions of mermaid legends
• not feeling at home
• the environment and eco-consciousness
• disability

Contribute Writing

Please send no more than 6 previously unpublished pieces as attachments to poemsunderwater @t gmail.com by June 1st 2013.

We welcome short stories, flash fiction, poetry and non-fiction. But please do keep short stories under 2000 words, with poems no longer than 40 lines each.

For more information and to send your work