Call for Alternate Currents Contributors | Migration
Applications Open November 2, 2026 - January 10, 2027
Amplify’s publishing program attends to the specific histories, ecologies, and cultural knowledge of our region while remaining connected to broader national and global conversations. Alternate Currents (AC), Amplify’s imprint, supports and circulates inquiry-driven work, rooted in creative research, that affirms publishing as a site of care, experimentation, and shared learning.
Artists, writers, researchers, organizers, and cultural practitioners are invited to submit existing, previously unpublished nonfiction work exploring migration and movement.
Migration can describe the movement of people across borders, the seasonal movement of birds, the flow of waterways, the spread of seeds, or the circulation of languages, labor, ideas, and culture. We’re interested in work that explores how these movements shape our relationships to place, community, ecology, and one another.
Up to ten selected contributors will each receive a $500 honorarium. Selected work will be published on the Alternate Currents blog throughout 2027 and in the annual print journal at the end of the year.
Applications open November 2, 2026, and close January 10, 2027, at 11:59 PM CT.
Download the full application in English or Spanish and follow the link below when you’re ready to submit.
Questions about Alternate Currents or the submission process? Register to join us for a Virtual Info Session and/or Virtual Office Hours to learn more, ask questions, and get guidance on preparing a strong submission.
Virtual Info Session: November 11, 6 PM - 7 PM on Zoom
Virtual Office Hours: December 7, 12 PM - 6 PM on Zoom
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Artists, writers, researchers, organizers, scholars, and cultural practitioners who have a connection to the region are welcome. You do not need to be a professional writer, hold an academic degree, or work within a formal arts institution. We welcome work grounded in lived experience, family and community histories, fieldwork, creative practice, observation, and independent research.
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Migration can describe the movement of people across borders, the seasonal movement of birds, the flow of waterways, the spread of seeds, or the circulation of languages, labor, ideas, and culture. Submissions don’t need to address every dimension of migration or take a particular political, disciplinary, or stylistic approach.
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Applicants may live or work anywhere, provided they have a connection to the region. This may include current or former residence, family or ancestral ties, cultural and community relationships, or sustained work with the region’s people, histories, and ecologies. Amplify’s working definition of the region encompasses the Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregion, the Loess and Glacial Drift Hills, and the Missouri Alluvial Plain across what is now Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana.
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We welcome essays, photo essays, criticism, interviews, creative research, and hybrid forms that bring together text, images, and other approaches. Text-led submissions should be 1,500–2,500 words. Submissions must be complete, existing work and must not have been previously published.
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Up to ten contributors will each receive a $500 honorarium. Selected work will be published online on the Alternate Currents blog throughout 2027 and in the Alternate Currents print journal at the end of the year.
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Applicants must submit a complete existing work for publication and a context statement describing the work and their relationship to the region. Text-led work may be submitted as PDF, DOC, or DOCX. Submit a PDF for primarily visual work or when arrangement, sequence, or the relationship between elements is important. A context statement may be submitted as a DOC, DOCX, or PDF of 500 words or less, or as an audio/video recording no longer than four minutes.
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Applicants may upload up to ten supporting image files separately. Please ensure you own the rights or have permission to submit third-party materials, images, or media included in your work. Selected contributors may be asked to provide documentation of permissions before publication.
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November 2, 2026: Applications Open
November 11, 2026, 6 PM - 7 PM: Virtual Application Info Session
December 7, 2026,12 PM - 6 PM: Virtual Application Office Hours
January 10, 2027, 11:59 PM: Applications Close
January 11 - February 1, 2027: Submission Review
February 8, 2027: Application Status Updates Delivered
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Applications will be reviewed in a three-phase review process:
Amplify Arts staff will review to ensure applicants meet eligibility requirements and have submitted a complete application.
All eligible applications will be reviewed and scored by an internal panel of Amplify Arts staff and Community Advisory Group members.
Based on aggregate rankings, panel members will select up to ten applicants to publish their work on the Alternate Currents blog and in the Alternate Currents journal.
Submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:Engagement with migration: The work offers a thoughtful, compelling, or distinctive perspective on migration and its relationship to the region.
Strength of approach: The work demonstrates care and intention in its development, using its chosen format to communicate ideas, experiences, or research effectively.
Cross-platform potential: The work can be presented across online and print formats, with appropriate adaptations where needed to preserve its central ideas and intended experience.
Connection to place: The applicant demonstrates a connection to the region through lived experience, kinship, cultural or community ties, research, creative practice, or other sustained engagement.
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Join the virtual information session on November 11, 2026, from 6–7 PM CT, or sign up for a 20-minute virtual office-hours appointment on December 7 between 12–6 PM CT. Office hours can help clarify eligibility, format, submission guidelines, and navigating Submittable.
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This application is available in:
Please email info@amplifyarts.org if you have questions or if you need help navigating Submittable, the application submission software.
About Alternate Currents
Alternate Currents is Amplify Arts’ publishing imprint and an evolving online platform and print publication that supports and circulates creative research rooted in the histories, ecologies, and cultural knowledge of our region. Connected to broader national and global conversations, Alternate Currents affirms publishing as a site of care, experimentation, and shared learning.