Call for Proposals

The fiesta was really started. It kept up day and night for seven days. The dancing kept up, the drinking kept up, the noise went on. The things that happened could only have happened during a fiesta. Everything became quite unreal finally and it seemed as though nothing could have any consequences. It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta. All during the fiesta you had the feeling, even when it was quiet, that you had to shout any remark to make it heard. It was the same feeling about any action. It was a fiesta and it went on for seven days.

 The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway.

We invite you to consider music festivals through this quote from The Sun Also Rises and in relation to notions of liminality, of repetition, the real and the unreal, festival and noise, time and perception.

As the journal title suggests, we are interested in pieces that take an experimental approach to the consideration of popular music. For examples of pieces based on previous prompts, have a look through our current and past issues.

We encourage experimental audio, visual and written contributions, from composition to poetry. Up to ten contributions (to include visual contributions up to six pages of A4) will be published online and in limited edition print in November 2019.

Deadline for 300-word proposals- 10^th March 2019

Please include your name, institution or association (if applicable) and contact email.

Full submissions (of 1,000-4,000 word / visual / audio content to not exceed 6 A4 pages / or an audio/video file suitable for hosting on WordPress) will be invited by the 18^th of March and expected by the 28^th of July.

All abstracts submitted to Riffs will be considered by the whole editorial panel and invited contributions will be peer reviewed before publication.

This issue will be edited by our co-Managing Editors. Please send your abstract and bio to:

Dr Craig Hamilton Craig.Hamilton@bcu.ac.uk 

Dr Sarah Raine Sarah.Raine@bcu.ac.uk

Please note: Riffs shall be entitled to first use of the contribution in all the journal’s different forms, but the author remains the copyright owner and can re-publish their contribution without seeking the journal’s permission. Riffs reserve the right to decline to publish contributions if they are submitted after the agreed deadline and without the assigned editor being informed (and agreeing to) a new submission date.