Upcoming Themes

Each of Terrain.org's issues is based on a predominant theme that relates to the built and natural environments. Contributions are oriented toward that theme, though the connection does not have to be obvious. We encourage interested authors and artists to consider submitting new material specifically for the themes, and material that has already been developed that fits into the themes.  For more information on submitting, view our Submission Guidelines or visit the Submission Manager.

Our next three issue themes are:

• Issue No. 26 : The Signal in the Noise
• Issue No. 27 : Entropy
• Issue No. 28 : Image
   

Issue No. 26 : The Signal in the Noise
Fall/Winter 2010

Due in part to technology and consumption, our environments are changing at seemingly exponential rates. Society, spirituality, and community likewise morph. But what are the causes, and just as importantly, how do we counter or at least manage the change and pace? Is there a larger message in all this movement, and if so, how do we decipher it? Is it possible to streamline the dispatch to create a more sustainable future? And what role the messenger? This issue of Terrain.org — through columns, poetry, essays, fiction, articles, reviews, the interview, the ARTerrain gallery, the UnSprawl case study, and more — explores the built and natural constructs of the places around and within us, listening intently to find the signal in the noise.

Submissions due by — and inaugural Terrain.org contest entry deadline on — August 1, 2010. Online October 4, 2010. [submit online now]

Issue No. 27 : Entropy
Spring/Summer 2011

Some days, it seems as if things are falling apart around us. And in fact they are — there is a tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity: entropy. But how do our built and natural environments devolve differently? Is chaos a good thing in our environments, in our selves? Can we harness dis/order to build better communities? Or perhaps community and culture rely on change as much as stability? Through columns, poetry, essays, fiction, articles, reviews, an interview, the ARTerrain gallery, the UnSprawl case study, and more, this issue of Terrain.org bucks harmony for heresy, calm for chaos, and direction for disintegration to define the state of the world around us, the constant state of entropy.

Submissions due by February 1, 2011. Online March 14, 2011. [submit online now]

Issue No. 28 : Image
Fall/Winter 2011

Advertisers would have us believe that image is everything, but is it? Is what we see the truth, and does the truth matter? Is the world around us only a series of illusions: photographs and paintings and holograms. What image do we want to present in our local communities, our wildernesses, across the globe, and beyond? Through columns, poetry, essays, fiction, articles, reviews, an interview, the ARTerrain gallery, the UnSprawl case study, and more, this issue of Terrain.org seeks out the spitting image, the frayed or fake photograph, the real or resounding representation, or the lack of the visual altogether — to present what nouns and verbs cannot always convey: image.

Submissions due by — and second annual Terrain.org contest entry deadline on — August 1, 2011. Online September 15, 2011. [submit online now]

For more information, please contact us.