Call for Proposals

The New Polar Times is an upcoming independent publication created by and for those interested in the history of the "Heroic Age" of polar exploration, both Arctic and Antarctic. Inspired by the South Polar Times – the newspaper of both of Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic expeditions, edited by Ernest Shackleton and Apsley Cherry-Garrard respectively – the New Polar Times will take the form of an interdisciplinary literary & arts zine showcasing the talents, interests, and original projects of a new generation of polar enthusiasts. The final product will take the form of a physical book – although a digital version will also be available.

Second Round: May 15-June 30

For our second round of applications, we are looking for submissions of the following types:

Artist applications: If you would like to apply to contribute illustrations based on and intended to complement the written content of the publication, now’s your time to shine! We ask that you submit a portfolio link and/or a few examples of your polar-related illustration work along with your application. Note that this role is different from submitting a proposal for an artwork - if accepted, you will be assigned illustrations to complete and will be working with our art director to ensure they meet the publication’s needs.

Standalone artworks: Media can include but are not limited to:

✦        Drawing/illustration (digital or physical)

✦        Painting

✦       Collage

✦       Graphic design

✦        Printmaking

✦       Photography

✦       Sculpture

✦       Embroidery/Fibercraft

Graphic narrative works: If you have an idea for a comic, a graphic essay, or another artistic work with an experimental narrative format, feel free to submit it for consideration this round!

Works must meet the following guidelines: 

Proposed works must take up no more than two 8x10” pages. We want to make sure we have room for everything!

Artist applications must include examples of your work. This can be a link to a portfolio, a few example illustrations, or a link to a previous project you’ve worked on. We just need to be able to see your work so we can tell if it’s going to be a good fit for the NPT.

 Works must be based on a topic from a specific era of Arctic or Antarctic exploration history. We are referring to this era broadly as the “Heroic Age” – for the purposes of this publication, we consider this period to begin after the end of the Franklin relief expeditions in the mid-to-late 19th century and to last until the advent of successful polar aviation. In more concrete terms, consider this period to last from Charles Francis Hall’s 1871 Polaris Expedition until the death of Roald Amundsen in 1928. This is a longer period of time than is typically allotted to the Heroic Age, but we want to give our contributors the opportunity to explore the transitional periods before and after the Heroic Age proper.

Again, if you’re not sure your idea fits, or if you think it doesn’t quite fit, pitch it anyway – we’re looking for diverse and unexpected works from all sorts of creators. As previously stated: The worst we can do is tell you no. Any idea is worth a shot.

That said, there are a few types of work that will definitely not be accepted:

Fanfiction: This is a nonfiction publication. We welcome creative interpretations of existing historical narratives, but we we ask that the interpersonal dynamics explored in your works remain firmly within the realm of the historically-documented and stay away from speculation. We have nothing against shipping or fanfiction in general – that’s just not the direction we’re looking to take with this project!

Content outside the scope of the publication: We won’t be accepting submissions from outside the specified timeframe. For example, Franklin-related content will not be accepted. The Franklin Expedition is its own fascinating subject (and we love learning about it!), but our focus is on the period following that one.

Content based on or inspired by existing works of fiction or adaptations: We love The Terror, we really do. We love The Ministry of Time and we love The Birthday Boys and we love The Last Place on Earth. We’ve even seen The Red Tent. But the New Polar Times is not the place to share your lavishly-detailed artistic renditions of Mark Gatiss as Apsley Cherry-Garrard in that one adaptation of Worst Journey he did for the BBC back in the ‘00s. The only possible exception to this is if you’re working on your own project and you’d like to share some of the effort/research you’ve been putting in – that could be interesting!

Hateful content: Racism, sexism, antisemitism, islamophobia, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, intersexism, anything that reinforces the inherently oppressive boundaries between ethnicities, nationalities, religious beliefs, identities, abilities, etc. The goal of the New Polar Times is to center marginalized voices in a sub-field of history which has – as is the case with many other historical interests – suffered a lack of diverse perspectives. Our editorial committee reserves the right to turn down any submission that would undermine this goal.

Plagiarized or AI-generated content: All works submitted must be your own, and all collaborators must be credited! Because generative AI programs (including but not limited to ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion) do not credit or compensate the creators of the works used to train them, we consider their use a form of plagiarism and will not accept works that are partially or entirely AI-generated.

Our submission form will be published on May 15th. Proposals must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM EST on June 30th / 5:59 AM CET on July 1st.