Submissions & Commissions Policy
Commissions Policy
Much of the content of Holy Show is commissioned by its editors, with the support of its advisory board. We curate non-fiction narratives from across the arts for each annual magazine, cherry-picking projects, exhibitions, events and other activities that we feel have a compelling stand-alone true story at their heart.
Submissions Policy
We also welcome pitches from individual; groups of professional writers and artists working in any discipline; and pitches from arts organisations who have created or commissioned arts projects that have yet to find a print home. Please read below before submitting.
We particularly welcome emails, queries, pitches and non-fiction stories told by, or that include, artists and writers who are underrepresented in the arts, or who've met with barriers to participation in the arts because of their socio-economic background, their ethnicity or religion, their sexual orientation or gender identity, their family status, their age, their membership of the Traveller Community, or through lack of accommodation of a disability.
Submitting artists should ask themselves, 'What is the most interesting true story I can tell across 4–16 pages of blank paper?' (And what's the most interesting way to tell it, textually and visually?)
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Visual Art / Theatre / Film / Dance / Music / Circus / Architecture / etc.
We’re interested in presenting and adapting art from a range of forms to the print medium. Whether its theatre scripts, film excerpts, dance pieces, audio documentaries, graphic narratives, photography, illustration or visual art, we’re looking for work that tells stories about people, place or engaging subject matter. In the past, work we’ve published by non-literary artists include picture diaries, travelogues, memoir pieces, interviews, scripts +commentary, backstories to project productions of all kinds (installations, theatre, dance).
In most of our pieces, we’re seeking non-fiction texts with a strong human interest element, and also a visual component. Please read at least one back issue before submitting.
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Literature
We're interested in text that falls loosely into the category of creative non-fiction – essays; musings; travelogues of inner and outer space; documentary film scripts adapted to essay; research, analyses and criticism of everyday life and issues. Where possible, we’re keen to pair text with any kind of visual material. No fiction or poetry please. Needless to say, it's worth reading previous issues of Holy Show to see what it's all about.
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Collaborations
We’re really interested in presenting work that connects multiple artistic disciplines, and in pairing the work of two or more artists, so feel free to submit ideas as a pair, trio, collective or project team.
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Payment
Payment to contributors for original work or commissions currently ranges between €150 and €1,000. We aim to publish about 8–10 'pieces' per issue, and aim to offer a total budget of €1,000 per piece. There are usually two or more artists involved on a given piece. Fees vary depending on the scale and nature of the work. Read our SayWhatYouPay policy here.
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Submit your Idea
All ideas should be by/about an Irish or Ireland-based artist, or have a loose connection to Ireland or some aspect of Irish life, and be potentially interesting to a general reader. Email your idea to brendan@holyshow.ie with a 50–200 word pitch in the body of the email, and any other relevant text or images attached as pdf.
