Helter Skelter is creating a brand new space for emerging writers and poets. We will publish new collections of original short fiction and poetry quarterly, each one based around a central theme.

We’re looking for original writing that will look beyond the obvious. The theme we provide for each collection may be a word, phrase, or photograph. For our first edition, we’re inviting entries based around the following visual cue—

Use the theme as a starting point, an ending, or as the nucleus, but just ensure that the connection is clear. You’re free to interpret the topic in your own way. In fact, we want you to. Do the write thing.

Important: All submissions should be based on the visual cue provided and not the phrase ‘off the hook’.

There are a few guidelines that we expect writers to follow—

1. All entries should be sent to write@helterskelter.in on or before March 10, 2012 March 25, 2012. Please be sure to state your full name, age, location, and occupation in your email. Emails should be sent using the subject line ‘Submission: Off the Hook’ and should also include a photograph and a short bio of yourself (two or three lines; written in third-person).

2. Writers must be Indian citizens and/or based in India.

3. All entries must be sent to us as email attachments in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format only. Do not send us documents in PDF, TXT, or RTF format. Do NOT paste your entry in the body of the email.

4. Short fiction pieces should not exceed 2,000 words in length.

5. Poems should not exceed in length two pages of a standard Microsoft Word document (Times New Roman/Arial; font size 12pt; double-spaced). If the poem you have written exceeds these specifications, send us an extract for approval.

6. Writers retain all rights to their submitted pieces. However, we insist that all submissions (short fiction or poetry) be previously unpublished—this includes your blog, and any other online or print publications. Once published in Helter Skelter, should writers seek to publish the same work elsewhere, it must be accompanied by a note stating that it was originally published in Helter Skelter Magazine along with the date of publication and a link to the piece.

7. For writers who intend to submit the same short story/poem to other publications at the same time: please let us know immediately if your work gets accepted for publication elsewhere (before we accept/reject the story, that is).

Follow us on Twitter (@ishelterskelter) and/or join us on Facebook for regular updates and announcements. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with us at write@helterskelter.in. We eagerly look forward to your submissions!