CLOSED For Submissions - The Hummingbird Journal ISSUE 1
Submit to the first Isue of the HummingBird Journal 🙌🙌🔥🔥
The Hummingbird – Submission Guidelines
ISSUE 1: What We’re Looking For [Please, read everything carefully]
This is an OPEN issue.
You can submit any form of original work — poetry, short fiction, CNF, art, or photography, based on any theme, topic or subject.
But there’s one condition…
Your work must be narrative-shifting.
We’re looking for pieces that shake things up. Works that challenge old perspectives, amplify new voices and reimagine the world we live in.
What does narrative-shifting mean to us?
Work that confronts stereotypes or silences
Work that centres underrepresented voices
Work that disrupts the status quo
Work that offers radical imagination, joy, or resistance
Works that bring Ghana to a new light, reimagined futures, etc
By all means, go bold, go different, do whatever you like; it is an open issue after all, but there should be some narrative shift (however best you decide to interpret that) underpinning—no matter how subtle or loud.
In essence:
If your work moves people to think differently, feel deeply, or see the world anew, we want it.
For this issue, we are seeking:
3 Fiction pieces
2 Creative Nonfiction (CNF) pieces
5 Poems
2 Art/Photography contributions
We accept submissions in English and Ghanaian languages (with English translations).
General Submission Guidelines
Submit only original, unpublished work. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please notify us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere.
We welcome submissions from both emerging and established creatives.
Please submit to only one category per reading period.
Send a maximum of one submission per genre:
Poetry: Up to 2 poems, submitted as a single document.
Fiction (Prose): 1 story, maximum 3,500 words.
Creative Nonfiction: 1 essay or hybrid work, maximum 3,500 words.
Art / Photography: Up to 3 images in high-resolution .jpg or .png format.
Formatting Requirements
For Text Submissions (Poetry, Fiction, CNF):
File format: .doc or .docx only. (PDFs will not be reviewed for text submissions.)
Font: EB Garamond, 12 pt
Spacing: Double-spaced for prose, single-spaced for poetry
Include page numbers on prose documents
Submit all poems in one file, clearly separated by titles
Include your name, title of work, genre, and word count at the top of the document
For Art / Photography Submissions:
File format: .jpg or .png
Resolution: High-resolution (minimum 300dpi preferred)
Title each image clearly in your file name
Optional: Include a brief description of the work if it enhances understanding
Contributor Bio
Please include a short third-person bio (100–200 words) with your submission. You may include your location, previous publications, and any relevant links (social media, website, etc.).
Response Time
We aim to respond within 4–6 weeks of the submission deadline. All contributors will receive a response, whether or not the work is accepted.
Rights
The Hummingbird requests first publication rights and the right to archive your work on our website. After publication, all rights revert to the author/artist. If the work is republished elsewhere, please acknowledge the first publication with The Hummingbird.
Submit Through Google Forms
Submissions are accepted exclusively through our Google Forms portal. Please do not email submissions unless explicitly instructed.
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Content Boundaries
We encourage bold, honest, and boundary-pushing work. That said, The Hummingbird does not publish work that includes hate speech, gratuitous violence, or explicit sexual content that lacks artistic or narrative purpose. Submissions that dehumanise or target individuals or communities based on race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, or ability will not be considered.
If your piece contains potentially triggering material (e.g., self-harm, sexual violence, abuse), we encourage including a content note at the beginning of your submission. This is not mandatory, but it helps us handle the work with appropriate care.
Content That Cannot Be Published
Because of our narrative-shifting mandate, The Hummingbird cannot publish work that reinforces harmful stereotypes about Ghana or Africa, centres narratives of poverty, disease, corruption, or despair without nuance, or portrays the continent solely through a deficit lens.
However, narrative-shifting does not mean avoiding criticism. We welcome bold, honest examinations of social, cultural, and political issues — including those that expose human rights violations, hold leaders accountable, and question systems or practices that harm people. In fact, thoughtful critique can itself be a powerful form of narrative shifting, pushing us toward the Ghana and Africa we aspire to. Such work must be rigorous, evidence-based, and deeply authentic, rooted in a vision for progress, justice, and dignity.
We welcome critical work, but it must be layered, complex, and avoid flattening people, cultures, or histories into single stories. If a piece’s framing risks reinforcing damaging global perceptions of Ghana or Africa without offering depth or nuance, we will not publish it.
Compensation
At this time, The Hummingbird is a volunteer-run, unfunded journal, and we are not able to offer payment to contributors. We understand this may not be ideal, and we are actively seeking funding and partnerships that will allow us to offer honoraria in the future.
What we can promise: editorial care, thoughtful presentation of your work, social media features, and archiving on our website as part of a carefully curated issue.
Withdrawal Policy
If you need to withdraw your submission, either fully or partially (e.g., one of your poems has been accepted elsewhere), please email us at creativesprojectgh@gmail.com with the subject line: Withdrawal – [Your Name] – [Title of Work].
We appreciate your transparency and will acknowledge the withdrawal as soon as possible.
What We Do Not Accept
To avoid confusion, please note that we do not accept:
Previously published work (including blogs, self-published platforms, or any publication that retains public access)
Work generated primarily or entirely by AI tools
Submissions that promote hate, misinformation, or discriminatory ideologies
Multiple submissions across genres during the same reading period
We reserve the right to decline submissions that do not align with our editorial values.
Accessibility & Support
We want The Hummingbird to be accessible to all. If you encounter any technical or access barriers when submitting via Google Forms, please do not hesitate to reach out.
We’re happy to assist or offer alternative submission methods where necessary.