LOST FUTURES volume 4: thresholds
In LOST FUTURES, we want to hear about worlds that could have been, should have been, or weren’t. Futures that tried to bring themselves into existence but whose spark burned out. Of the lives you might have had if things were different.
volume 4's theme is thresholds. Thresholds are ends or boundaries; often, they are waiting places, or something to be broken or exceeded. You might think of these thresholds on any scale. It could be the sense of relief as you cross the threshold to your house at the end of a long day. Or it might be a turning point, some pivotal moment that you pass through to go from one stage to another. Have you decided to stop drinking? Did you pass the point of no return in your dying relationship?
thresholds might make you think of periods of change. Transitory times and spaces, phases moved through, journeys from one state to another. In these transitions, everything is up for grabs, anything could change on a whim. Our thresholds might cause us to metamorphosize, turning into something new and beautiful, or we might be straddling the borderline, unable to leave our liminal spaces.
On your journey, you may pass through doorways. You enter, you exit, and you close the door behind you. What changed? What is new about this room? Or perhaps you move forward and find a locked door, someone or something blocking your path. How do you move past this? Can you move past this? What doors in your life remain unopened, all these years later?
We’re interested in the obstacles you’ve overcome, the impasses you’ve experienced, and the moments of change you have been through. As always, we’ll consider any submissions which engage with the themes of LOST FUTURES, though submissions concerned with thresholds are what we’d most love to see.
LOST FUTURES takes submissions in any format. If you have an idea, we’ll work it out. Primarily it is intended to be a paper zine format, but if you’ve got something that needs to be heard or watched, we’ll find a way. If in doubt, contact us and we can think about how it might work. You may submit 3 pieces to this issue, though we will only accept a maximum of 2 pieces per person in this issue. If you are submitting a submission over 1000 words, we may only accept 1 piece.
Visual pieces should fit onto an A5 page or double A5 spread, and ideally should be at 300 dpi - but no worries if you can't do that, we can always work something out.
We take art, poetry, prose, design, stories about your life, photography, documentation of exhibitions, music, personal essays, extended rants, screenshots of texts you feel like somehow explain the meaning of life. Anything. We’ll work it out together. We don't publish anything oppressive. No misogynistic, racist, hateful, ableist, transphobic, classist content.
We cover print costs. Once print costs are recouped, whatever’s left is shared equally amongst accepted contributors. (n.b. we are currently reviewing our payment model to make it sustainable for contributors and us, so this may be lightly subject to change)
Submit your work here.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us here: editors[at]exits[dot]org[dot]uk
Submissions for volume 4 close 21stAugust at 11:59pm UTC +1 (but you know we’ll take it if you’re a little bit late)