Longform content on The Big Ship should resolve to be a minimum of 700 words. Beyond that, the content should dictate the form and length can vary between the essayistic and the terse.

 

We would like The Big Ship to pave the way for the next generation of art writing, one that values fresh perspectives that challenge the canon and reflects this ethos in its writing. Likewise, your contributions should aim to be deeply personal and expressive responses to global art. They should be thoroughly researched but preferably use their subject only as a springboard for further enquiry, thought and experimentation. So, whatever you're thinking about writing, we encourage you to push the boat out and try something beyond what might be thought of as traditional criticism. Hopefully, that's exciting rather than daunting. Please acquaint yourself with our writing before pitching.

 

Our editing style is deeply involved so please be prepared to receive thorough feedback on your work, but we are writers first and foremost and we hope to always provide suggestions that value your intent as an artist.

 

At The Big Ship, we are less concerned with trends than we are with pushing the boundaries of art writing and history, and we have a taste for the fringe. For this reason, quality, exciting angles will rise to our attention regardless of lead time. Current exhibitions, cultural trends, upcoming books or album releases remain good framing but our editing process is thorough and we are a small team with a full slate, so please consider our own work process before building a piece around something urgent.

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Submissions to Little Prayers should be a maximum of 500 words or – if poetry – 40 lines. Little Prayers are born to be deleted. They have a short shelf life, and are usually public only for around two weeks. Fortunately, their ephemeral nature promotes writing at its most personal and experimental. Please use this to your advantage when responding to each prompt. Printing in a future volume of Little Prayers is possible, though not guaranteed. You will be contacted if we would like to discuss this with you further.

 

To submit a Little Prayer, please respond to the prompts (Max. 2 per contributor) below. Once per month, these prompts will rotate, and selected submissions will be published.