Dark Matter

Dark Matter is a blog for speculative literature. Dark Matter refers to the unknown particles suggested by the Standard Model to explain observations of gravity which cannot be accounted for by observable matter and energy. It could also be considered a reference to the thoughts and ideas that ferment inside a human brain before they emerge through spoken or written words. The title was chosen to reflect the emphasis of the unknown in both scientific inquiry and creative writing. Modern science provides new opportunities for natural metaphor to search for and create meaning in all areas of human thought and endeavor. Dark Matter will use cosmological, evolutionary, quantum mechanical and traditional natural metaphor to elicit literary thought and infuse modern ideas into poetry and prose.

Dark Matter Guidelines

Dark Matter will publish poetry, flash-fiction, short fiction, essays, and musings. We are interested in all things speculative in literature. We are not interested in anything dogmatic or mystical. Use natural metaphor to explore meaning and challenge traditional wisdom. We especially want to encourage new writers, particularly those who may not have training in writing but want to express creative explorations. We are particularly interested in the perspectives of science students and scientists who would like to share their creative writing. Please follow the guidelines below before submitting your work or thoughts. When you are ready, send your post to hogeb@uhd.edu.

Poetry

We welcome any style of poetry, but the poem must be speculative in nature and/or use natural metaphor. We have no restrictions on length, though the longer the poem the more it will have to wow us. Please send no more than three poems at a time.

Fiction

We will consider flash-fiction and short fiction of no more than 1500 words. We are not interested in science fiction, though we recognize the distinction between speculative fiction and science fiction is difficult to define. Please send one story at a time.

Essays

We will consider essays on any science or nature topic. We will also consider essays on the role of science in literature and society. We have no restrictions on length, though concise well-crafted essays will have a better chance of impressing us.

Musings

What do you think speculative literature is? What is natural metaphor? How can allusion to modern science contribute to the richness of the literary landscape? Let us know what you think.

General Considerations

We encourage submission of new and previously published work, from emerging and established authors. We simply want to highlight the best speculative literature on the web. You may also submit your work simultaneously to other blogs, journals or anthologies, just keep in mind the guidelines of those publications when allowing us to post your work. We don’t want to interfere with the dissemination of good speculative literature, and we would be glad to re-consider work after publication elsewhere once rights to the work revert to the author.

We will generally respond within one month. If you have not received a response by then, you may query us about the status of your submission.

We will not publish egregious vulgarity, profanity, or sexual content. We will not publish anything that displays a lack of proper respect for any culture, creed, race, or religion. You can question dogmatic beliefs, but don’t attack. Stay positive and sell your point of view without resorting to aspersion and logical fallacy.