Chicanonautica: The Somos En Escrito Extra-fiction Contest

by Ernest Hogan

. . . and in other news, not related to America's latest crisis, Somos en escrito, The Latino Literary Online Magazine, where  excerpts from Smoking Mirror Blues and UNO! DOS! ONE-TWO! TRES! CUATRO! can be read, is having a contest for Latino (Chicano, too, and add your favorite suffixes and spelling alterations) extra-fiction, and have asked me to be the final judge. I accepted the job. 

Here's the official info:

Somos en escrito, The Latino Literary Online Magazine, is hosting the first annual Somos en escrito Extra-Fiction Writing Contest. First prize is $100 and publication, second and third prize earn publication, and all winners receive a copy of a signed book by our judge, the father of Chicano Sci-fi, Ernest Hogan.

The deadline is September 30, 2018 and winners will be announced on October 31st (Halloween).

Writings must be by Americans of indigenous/hispanic background (Native American, Chicano, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Latin American origin) born in the USA or from Latin America residing in the USA.

Manuscripts must be unpublished, in English, Spanish, or Spanglish and in any genre reflecting the range of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy, horror, in other words, extra-fiction. (Excerpts from novels in progress may also be submitted.) One submission per author, 6,000 word limit. SUBMISSION IS FREE

Submit text to somossubmissions@gmail.com.

12 point Times New Roman, double spaced, indentations at .5 inch. Include bio and photograph (jpg format, min 300 dpi).

By using the term “extra-fiction” they're opening it up beyond genre to all kinds of imaginative fiction. I'm going to keep my mind open when picking the winner. In my work I try to write about, and even invent, new kinds of Latinoid/Chicano experience. I'm hoping to be surprised, amazed, shocked, and have my mind blown.

So go for it, mis carnales!

Ernest Hogan has been called the Father of Chicano Science Fiction, has taught a master class in writing at the University of California Riverside, and has been published in Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies.