Writers 50 and Over, Get Ready, Get Set, Publish!

Getting published is not an easy achievement today, but if you’re a little older it’s often more difficult in our youth-oriented society. So it’s comforting to know that there is a literary journal and publisher, perhaps the only one in the U.S.A., who will accept submissions soley from writers 50 years of age and older.

Passager (a combination of “passage”and “passenger”), was co-founded by Kendra Kopelke in 1999. She was teaching poetry to a retirement community in Baltimore, MD, and was so struck by the passion and beauty displayed in their work, that she felt these students needed to be seen and heard. Passager was developed in order to showcase all older writers and their skills, talents and creativity, and to stimulate their continued involvement in creative expression. Apparently it worked, because not only did the magazine/journal flourish, but Passsager Books was launched in 2005, welcoming proposals from older writers, with the proviso that they do not stereotype images of old age. After all, an adage tells us that old age is merely a state of mind. Many agree:

“I want to run away and join the Cirque du Soleil when I grow up,” said Sly Stallone’s mother, Jackie, at seventy-something. (She took up high wire walking as a senior citizen.)

“Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is in flower” (Albert Camus).

“In the past few years, I have made a thrilling discovery, that until one is over sixty, one can never really learn the secret of living” (Ellen Glasgow).

“I can’t actually see myself putting makeup on my face at the age of 60. But I can see myself going on a camel train to Samarkand” (Glenda Jackson).

“The older I get, the greater the power I seem to have to help the world. I am like a snowball—the further I am rolled, the more I gain” (Susan B. Anthony).

If you are an older writer, wishing to be published for the first time, you might be surprised to know you are in good company. Some debut novels by mature writers include: George Eliot’s Adam Bede. It came out when she was 50; Laura Ingalls Wilder’s first of the Little House on the Prairie series was out when she was well into her 60’s; Anna Sewell, who wrote Black Beauty, was 57; Katherine Ann Porter, Ship of Fools, 79; Norman Mclean, A River Runs Through It, 74. This list can go on, but one of the most outstanding examples is a Bangledeshi writer, Nirad Chauhuri, who wrote his first book, Autobiography of an Unknown Indian when he was 54, its sequel when he was 90, and his latest book, Three horsemen of the New Apocolypse, when he was 100.

On that note, I’ll leave you with a few more particulars to decide if you want to take this plunge. Passeger Books will accept a maximum of 4000 words. They have published books of poetry and an anthology of journal writing. Their magazine/journal also publishes short shorts, poetry and memoir, and they particularly like humorous, tongue-in-cheek essays. Although Passeger pays one contributor’s copy if published, the magazine does at times run contests and other events, which could net the winner a cash prize. They acquire first North American Serial Rights, and simultaneous submissions are acceptable.

Passeger is published twice a year, including one issue highlighting the winning entries of the poetry contest. Manuscripts, however, will not be read from September 15 through February 15. Right now, they are able to accept submissions for the magazine, only. Visit their website (listed below) and click on “Guidelines” to check for opening dates of acceptance for their other publication submissions and for further information.

Both Passeger and Passeger Books may be contacted at the following addresses and phone number:

Website: www.passagerpress.com
E-mail: passager@saysomethingloudly.com
Phone: (410) 837-60472
Mail: Editors
         Passager Press
         c/o The University of Baltimore
         Baltimore, MD 21201

Happy writing!



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