guidelines
Returning the Gaze
Sight is one of the most powerful senses. We all know what it is like to be looked at. Whether it is a look of desire or of unwanted attention. Some of the most beautiful poems ever written have been written about eyes — the mirror through which we are seen and perceived. The gaze is an incredibly powerful tool. The lens through which the world looks at us has historically been tainted with various colors, both preferable and unwanted.
At Ayaskala, we want to know how you look back. Tell us tales of returning what is seeing you. How do you return a loving gaze? Do you look at yourself the same way you look at others? How do you perceive yourself? History’s eyes have not been kind. How do you stare at authority that has diminished you? How do you form a social identity?
We want to know how you look at art and make sense of it. What are the implications of constant surveillance and the trade-offs between privacy and technological advancement? What are the potential consequences of technology that gazes back at us? Is there an ethical considerations associated with this level of technological interaction?
We are also accepting academic and critically analytical pieces. Try exploring narratives like the responsibilities of media in shaping societal values and morality. Or how cinema and literature contribute to our understanding of ourselves and the society we inhabit.
In this issue, we hope to provide a place wherein you can challenge what has always been, and explore what can be.
deadline
Submissions will close on 15th October.
response
You will get a response by 20th October.
payment
Accepted contributors will be paid $8-12 or ₹600-1000.
deadline
Submissions will close on 20th September.
response
You will get a response by 30th September.
payment
Accepted contributors will be paid $8-12 or ₹600-1000.
Returning the Gaze
Sight is one of the most powerful senses. We all know what it is like to be looked at. Whether it is a look of desire or of unwanted attention. Some of the most beautiful poems ever written have been written about eyes — the mirror through which we are seen and perceived. The gaze is an incredibly powerful tool. The lens through which the world looks at us has historically been tainted with various colors, both preferable and unwanted.
At Ayaskala, we want to know how you look back. Tell us tales of returning what is seeing you. How do you return a loving gaze? Do you look at yourself the same way you look at others? How do you perceive yourself? History’s eyes have not been kind. How do you stare at authority that has diminished you? How do you form a social identity?
We want to know how you look at art and make sense of it. What are the implications of constant surveillance and the trade-offs between privacy and technological advancement? What are the potential consequences of technology that gazes back at us? Is there an ethical considerations associated with this level of technological interaction?
We are also accepting academic and critically analytical pieces. Try exploring narratives like the responsibilities of media in shaping societal values and morality. Or how cinema and literature contribute to our understanding of ourselves and the society we inhabit.
In this issue, we hope to provide a place wherein you can challenge what has always been, and explore what can be.
deadline
Submissions will close on 15th October.
response
You will get a response by 20th October.
payment
Accepted contributors will be paid $8-12 or ₹600-1000.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Our team of skilled editors will be blindly reading all the submissions received. You can learn more about our team here. Please refrain from contacting our editors about your piece since they read submissions blind to avoid any biases.
No, all submissions made to Ayaskala are absolutely free.
If your piece is not selected, you can resubmit to this issue with a fresh piece within the submission window.
Please wait till 20 October for a response.
Check your spam folder.
If you still can’t find an e-mail from us, reach out at founder[at]ayaskala[dot]com and we’ll get back to you with an update.
Simultaneous submissions are okay. Please inform us upon submission that it is a simultaneous submission.
We also request you to let us know if your piece gets picked up elsewhere.
All genres of writing, ranging from prose to poetry and anything in between is accepted.
Please keep all long-form writing submissions under 1200 words.
For poetry, please don’t send anything longer than two pages formatted at 12 pt.
Ayaskala is not a great fit for visual or form poetry.
Please only send us upto 2 poems and 1 long-form piece at a time.
We recommend all submitters to add trigger warnings according to the content needs at the start of their document. There is also a separate question in our form where you can input trigger warnings if necessary. Please be mindful of the people reading your piece and warn them beforehand for anything triggering. 🙂
This is the submission form. Please submit only through this. E-mails with submissions will be discarded immediately.
No. We do not accept previously published work. Work posted on personal blog may be considered at our discretion but please inform us of the same.
Terms and conditions
- You are welcome to interpret the theme as per your understanding, but make sure your submission adheres to the theme.
- Any hateful and discriminatory content will lead to immediate disqualification of your piece from consideration.
- We currently only accept submissions in English.
- Any plagiarised content is strictly forbidden.
- We reserve first publication rights (digital and print), first audio rights, and the right to archive your work on our open-access platforms after publication.
- All those who submit work must be at least 16 years of age.
- Present volunteers at Ayaskala’s magazine, responsible for reading submissions, may not submit to this issue.
- Previous volunteers are free to submit via the standard submission procedure.
- We do not accept submissions of AI-generated work. If a submission is sent to us claiming to be author work and discovered or identified as AI-generated, it will be rejected and the author will no longer be welcome to submit in the future.
- We reserve the right to withdraw acceptances from any work found to be AI-generated, even after publication. Such work will be removed from all our platforms.
- We accept submissions from contributors anywhere in the world.
- We request that published contributors wait for two issues before resending us their work.
