Pluck! Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture

06/04/2020

The quintessential Nikky Finney. You need some love in your life today.

What would Affrilachia, the world be without her genius, heart, and strength?

“Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry is a 21st-century paean to the sterling love songs humming throughout four hundred years of black American life.” —Lit Hub “Her poems elide the generational and the personal with ample music. They are, therefore, more than taut with vital details; ...

07/17/2019

Exciting news: pluck! will return from hiatus next month with our first online issue, a special issue featuring the prose, poetry, and art of the kingdom of eSwatini, formerly Swaziland. Editor in Chief Frank X Walker visited the country on an Arts Envoy trip last year and calls it the "original Affrilachia."

If you know artists, poets, or writers with a connection to eSwatini, please share our call for submissions with them. And stay tuned for more information on this special issue as we get closer to our relaunch in late August!

Submission Guidelines: The Eswatini Issue! pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture is looking for voices, particularly voices of color, who have lived, worked, or have a connection to the country of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, for its special issue and relaunch in August 2019. Ple...

10/20/2015

Issue 13 is in! This is the special issue!! So much gratitude to and our guest editors, all of our incredible poet contributors, and for his stunning photo essay!

04/13/2015

pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture is dedicating its 13th issue to the international movement, "Black Poets Speak Out" (BPSO). BPSO began as a response to the grand jury's decision to not indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who murdered Mike Brown. This conversation has since expanded to include the ramifications of racially-charged police brutality, the negligence of legislative and justice systems around the world to hold murderers accountable for their actions, and to collectively bring attention to and mourn the tragic deaths of so many Black people, particularly Black males. Guest edited by Amanda Johnston & Mahogany L. Browne, this issue of pluck! will add to the BPSO campaign and showcase the work of contemporary poets responding to a public outcry for justice. You can learn more about BPSO here: http://blackpoetsspeakout.tumblr.com/About


Send 1-3 poems that respond to the BPSO initiative in a .doc or .docx attachment along with a fifty word bio to [email protected] by May 15, 2015. Please do not include the poem in the body of the email.

About Us Black Poets Speak Out (BPSO) began as a response to a conversation initiated by Amanda Johnston. Jericho Brown, Mahogany Browne, Jonterri Gadson and Sherina Rodriguez-Sharpe responded to the...

08/09/2014

pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture is now accepting submissions for its 12th issue themed, “From the Holler to the Hood.” We invite poetry and prose (both scholarly and creative) that illustrates the experience in transitioning between urban and rural environments. We also invite digital collage and photography that interprets our theme visually. All submissions will be considered for both print and web editions of the issue.

General Call for Submissions:
pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture is looking for voices of color from the thirteen states touched by the Appalachian Mountains (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) and work with a strong sense of place that addresses the writer’s unique experience in this physical and spiritual diaspora. We ask that potential contributors please read at least one issue of our journal before submitting their work so they can get a feel for the material we accept. Normal response time can range from 6-12 weeks.

Please submit work by September 8 in one of the following categories in an attachment of .doc or .rtf format (.jpg for images) and a bio of no more than fifty words to:

pluckjournalATgmailDOTcom
[email protected]

POETRY: Up to five previously unpublished poems.

FICTION: Up to 1500 words.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Up to five attached photos at 300 dpi or better. Dropbox links accepted. Accepted photos will be printed in B&W, Color on the web

ESSAYS: Creative non-fiction or academic essay of up to 1500 words

Multiple submissions accepted. Please advise if your submission is accepted elsewhere.

04/03/2014

Hey everyone, we now have content loaded up on the site from our 10th issue! Check out photo essays, video, poetry, and more! http://pluckjournal.com/current-issue/

pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture celebrates its tenth issue with the theme, "The Lost Ones." In the wake of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case, the editors wish to...

03/24/2014

11th Issue Call for Submissions:
pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture is now accepting submissions for its 11th issue themed, "Legacy & Tradition." We invite poetry and prose (both scholarly and creative) that illustrates the concepts of legacy and tradition. This could include storytelling, familial traditions, recipes, music, folklore and folk art, for example. We also invite digital collage and photography which interprets our theme visually. All submissions will be considered for both print and web editions of the issue.

General Call for Submissions:
pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture is looking for voices of color from the thirteen states touched by the Appalachian Mountains (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) and work with a strong sense of place that addresses the writer’s unique experience in this physical and spiritual diaspora. We ask that potential contributors please read at least one issue of our journal before submitting their work so they can get a feel for the material we accept. Normal response time can range from 6-12 weeks.

Please submit work by April 11 in one of the following categories in an attachment of .doc or .rtf format (.jpg for images) and a bio of no more than fifty words to:
pluckjournalATgmailDOTcom
[email protected]

POETRY: Up to five previously unpublished poems.

FICTION: Up to 1500 words.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Up to five attached photos at 300 dpi or better. Dropbox links accepted.

ESSAYS: Creative non-fiction or academic essay of up to 1500 words

Multiple submissions accepted. Please advise if your submission is accepted elsewhere.

02/03/2012

pluck! Issue 7 is in, folks! ain't she purty? and more importantly, don't you want to see this in your mailbox?? you can! subscribe today! :-)

11/08/2011

PLUCK! is out and about in Louisville at 21C waiting to see Affrilachian Poets, Marta Miranda and Jeremy Paden do their thang thang!

07/18/2011

The new issue is in and it is fiyah...if we do say so ourselves! :-) We think you'll really dig the new format too!