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Call for Pitches for CHINATOWN

C153—Winter 2023

Accepted until: July 13, 2022

Guest Edited by Steph Wong Ken

Chinatowns are complex sites—of joy, community, celebration, inheritance, and resistance. Formed by East Asian immigrants in the 1800s, they acted as cultural enclaves, providing housing and protection, as well as social, financial, and emotional support. Over time, they’ve evolved into tourist destinations while at the same time serving as living spaces for long term residents, who have created deeply embedded networks and a lineage of place-based experiences. Chinatowns also have a long history of displacement and of resistance to this removal, a tension that still exists today. Continuing a legacy of discrimination, the rise of anti-Asian racism and violence since the beginning of the pandemic has further endangered the livelihood and safety of these spaces and their occupants. This issue will explore artistic practices and related bodies of knowledge that respond to the sustainability of Chinatowns across Canada and beyond, exploring the intersections, complexities, and embodied experiences that define them. How can the arts foster intergenerational relationships and learning from community elders? What does it mean to cultivate a space shared by visitors and residents that represents the visible, invisible, and opaque? How do artists reconcile their roles as racialized settlers in the process of place-making? How is gentrification and displacement affecting Chinatowns differently from other types of neighbourhoods? How are artists tapping into archival practices, inherited knowledge, and technology to explore the past, present, and future of Chinatowns?

Thematic feature, artist project, and column pitches accepted until July 13, 2022. We suggest pitching early to avoid disappointment. Review pitches, which are not required to be thematic, are accepted on a rolling basis.

Send pitches to pitch@cmagazine.com, with a subject line that starts with the word PITCH and goes on to indicate the submission type (review, essay, interview, One Thing, for example). Please include ~150 words about your subject and how you’ll approach it, including hyperlinks wherever relevant. An estimated word count is appreciated. If you have not written for us recently, include a link to your website—or a copy of your CV—and one or two writing samples (ideally ones written in a style similar to your pitched piece). Submitted work must be original; we do not publish reprints nor adaptations of any kind.

Thank you for understanding that we are unable to reply to unsuccessful pitches.

Please see our submission and writer’s guidelines for more information.

Note: we do not accept pitches from platforms regarding their own programming.