Introduction

Accepting pitches for our mental health collection

Accepting pitches for our mental health collection

Rising Flame is now accepting pitches for our mental health collection – a unique, multi-format, community-led repository of storytelling from India!

Deadline: 3rd February, 2024 (11:59 pm IST)

Disabled and chronically ill people experience ableism in all aspects of our lives, from schools to workplaces to homes. We are faced with discrimination on grounds of our disability alongside our other interlinked identities, and have little to no avenues for finding support in the ableist world. The absence of accessible spaces and accommodations lead to isolation and self-doubt. This shapes our understanding of productivity and achievement, ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, and of which lives have value. Disabled people are told we must ‘fix’ ourselves and shrink our lives — our capacities are constantly questioned. These experiences impact our lives and, in turn, our mental health. And yet, the impact of ableism, discrimination, isolation and lack of support systems on mental health of people across disabilities are rarely documented, under-researched or entirely missing from mental health conversations. 

Our Mental Health Collection envisages a multi-format series of stories on the mental health of persons across disabilities in India – researched, illustrated, narrated, and authored by the community. This one-of-a-kind collection envisions co-creating a space to give expression to the complexities surrounding everyday mental health challenges for disabled and chronically ill folks. Using a cross-disability lens, it will complicate and widen the conversation around mental health, disability and care through a mix of critical writing, personal narratives, audio stories, comics, and reported pieces. 

Submission Guidelines

We are now accepting pitches from writers, researchers, artists and narrators from the disability community in India for pieces addressing mental health challenges of people across disabilities  and chronic illness. We are looking for pitches for the following types of pieces:

  1. Reported pieces based on interviews and primary sources 1200-1500 words.
  2. Personal essays 800-1000 words.
  3. Critical/analytical pieces that use research and secondary sources (articles, data, studies)  1000-1200 words.
  4. Comics– fiction or nonfiction of 6-8 panels 
  5. Audio stories– fiction or nonfiction, not longer than 5 minutes.

Please note that we are looking for pitches, not completed drafts. If this collection interests you and you wish to submit your pitch for reported pieces, personal essays or critical/ analytical pieces, email us a pitch of not more than 100 words with a sample of your work (published or unpublished). If you wish to submit an audio story, send us your 100 word written pitch with a sample of an audio-recording produced by you. If you wish to submit a comic, kindly send us a draft script.

Please include in your subject line ‘Pitch for MH Collection / format’ and email it to saima@risingflame.org with a CC to team@risingflame.org by 3rd February, 2024 by 3rd February, 2024, 11:59 pm IST. Selected candidates will be contacted in the last week of February.

Editing Process

The Mental Health Collection will be edited by writer and editor Richa Kaul Padte. After the submission of the final pieces, all contributors will work closely with the editor to fine tune their work via a thorough editing and review process.

Remuneration

All contributors will be paid Rs. 10,000 for their final piece.

For any further queries, please contact saima@risingflame.org 

About Rising Flame

Rising Flame is a National Award-winning non-profit organisation based in India, working for recognition, protection, and promotion of human rights of people across disabilities , particularly women and youth with disabilities. Rising Flame’s vision is to build an inclusive world in which diverse bodies, minds, and voices thrive with dignity; live free of discrimination, abuse, and violence; and enjoy equal opportunities and access. Since its establishment in 2017, as an organisation led by women and persons with disabilities, it aims to enable persons with disabilities standing at multiple intersections to have a voice, have a space, be heard and lead from the front. (Website: www.risingflame.org).

0 comments on “Accepting pitches for our mental health collection

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *