In each print issue, aAh! Magazine interrogates one word which runs as a theme throughout our published submissions. The theme of our next issue is ENERGY.

The word energy is plastered everywhere at the moment; the energy crisis may be on everybody’s lips, but we want to invite you to explore the complex concept of energy and what it means to you. That may be the very negative global energy crisis; your mind might instantly venture to the cost of oil and gas reaching record highs. But it also takes positive energy for a person to wake up, switch on their TV or mobile phone and gather the strength to go protest the energy crisis.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It’s always there, whether positive or negative. How do you channel energy in your life? Energy could be excitement, passion, vibrance, motivation, drive, power, and so much more. At your favourite band’s concert, energy is needed to power the speakers, energy is needed to inspire the performers and energy is exuded by the audience – the pure energetic reaction of the crowd is what universally defines a good show.

The concept of energy has a vast scope of potential interpretations and roles to play. Scientifically defined as the ability to do work, energy is something we utilise every day. It’s fuel for your mind, body and soul, as well as what powers your home. It can be as perplexing as what fuels our planet or as simple as what food makes you feel most energetic, whether that’s plant-based eating or experimenting with different health foods. Or what habits can improve your mental energy?

Do you meditate or practice mindfulness? How do you conserve your own personal energy? Is that through limiting the use of social media or cultivating certain habits? How do you use energy to enjoy your life? What’s the environmental cost of the energy used to bring you your favourite food or clothes? How do you utilise energy to challenge the injustices of energy poverty, race, sex, gender, and class? We want you to bring your energy to exploring interpretations of the concept energy in music, fashion, lifestyle, literature and culture.

We are looking for features, interviews, reviews, opinion pieces, creative prose, poetry, artwork, and photography that offers a critical, insightful and creative slant on the theme of ENERGY. We would like inventive and thought-provoking perspectives to create a magazine that opens conversation and breaks convention.

Writers – Call for submissions and register your interest to receive briefs

aAh! welcomes all student writers and journalists to pitch ideas for be considered for print publication.

Have an idea for a feature, interview, review, opinion, listicle, how-to, profile or Q&A you’d like to pitch? Email the team at aAh.Editor@gmail.com to discuss your ideas using the subject line ‘ENERGY’. Chat to the team to discuss a working deadline for your specific idea.

We also have a number of ENERGY themed print briefs available covering a variety of topics. Register your interest to join our print editorial team to receive more detail on our latest print briefs and other opportunities.

Check out our previous themed print magazines to see how contributors, writers and artists have explored the given theme, and explore our Editor’s ‘ENERGY’ themed prompts below to support you to generate ideas for this issue.

Arts and Culture: Explore how energy is channeled in art; The power of protest and art; Artists focussing on energy, climate change and the environment in their work

Fashion and Beauty: Shopping sustainability and reducing overconsumption; Best products to re-energise your skin; How what we wear can affect our energy

International: The energy of peoples, cities and places; The impact of our own energy use on our neighbours around the world; Inspiring communities and innovators; The impact of travel and greener lifestyles

Lifestyle: Best recipes to energise; How to reenergise mentally and protect your mental health; Positive energy; Motivation; Social media and our social battery; Living off the grid and alternative lifestyles; Tips for reducing our energy consumption

Community/Experience: Football bringing communities together; Finding fitness and friendship in the great outdoors; Keeping caffeinated and connected

Music: The energy crisis and music venues; Energetic artists, performances and crowds; The individuals powering our city’s music scene; Unplugged music

News and Current Affairs: The climate crisis; Green energy; The cost of living crisis; The conflict in Ukraine; Game-changers in renewable energy

Opinion: In light of the climate crisis, what makes an effective protest? Just Stop Oil? Should energy and transport be nationalised? When is it right to cut out negative energy?

Featured Artist Brief

A spotlight on a visual artist – submit up to ten images and we will pick our favourites to be featured throughout the magazine. Fine artists of all practices welcome, illustrators, photographers and graphic designers. Send us a brief bio and explanation of how your work relates to the theme ENERGY.

Eligibility

Artists and designers are welcome to submit works in any medium: painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, photography, textile, installation, any mixed media, digital, performance and film (jpg still image and a link to video) etc. All visual art mediums are welcome. Submit your visual work in a digital format in the highest possible resolution you have available – not below 300 dpi.

Visual Guidelines

We will accept work and visual in JPEG, PNG or TIFF formats. Artwork must be at least 300 dpi or more. All artwork must be at least 210 x 297 mm to fit in the magazine, and should fit comfortably on a page of this aspect ratio.

Our Featured Artists work will be published alongside a range of features, interviews, previews, opinion, creative prose, poetry, artwork, and photography that offers a critical, insightful and creative slant on the theme of ENERGY.

We are looking for inventive and thought-provoking perspectives to create a magazine that opens conversation and breaks convention.

To submit a piece to be consideration for publication, please email your submission to aAh.Editor@gmail.com with the subject line ‘ENERGY Featured Artist Submission’.

Creative Writing 

We are accepting works of prose, poetry, flash fiction and art on the theme of ENERGY. All work will be considered for publication, but only work under 300 words in length will have the opportunity to be featured in our print magazine. Longer pieces of poetry and prose will still have the opportunity to be published on our online magazine.

To send us your submission, please email a word document or PDF to aAh.Editor@gmail.com with the subject line ‘ENERGY Creative Submission’.