Flourish Magazine: Submissions open for Issue 4 on the theme of ‘Balance’

Do you take photographs, write, create art, make music, craft, dance, or do anything creative? Are you, or anyone close to you, living with cancer? We need you!  

We are looking for artwork, photography, creative or personal writing, film and audio for Issue 4 of Flourish Magazine, a free print and digital magazine by and for the cancer community, around the theme of ‘Balance’.  

Read previous issues of Flourish Magazine here  

How do you find balance? When you’re going through cancer or taking care of someone going through cancer, establishing balance can be especially important, but especially tricky.   

We want to see your creative responses to the theme, which is totally open to interpretation. It could be ways in which you balance cancer treatment with life’s ever-competing priorities, how you balance taking care of yourself with taking care of others, the elusive “work-life balance”, or even the act of balancing itself (calling all yogies and acrobats!). Perhaps you think balance is a myth that needs busting, or that we’ve got balance all wrong. Whatever your response to the word is – we want to know about it!  

We are looking for contributions from those:  

• living with or beyond cancer  
• living in relation to it, i.e. a friend or family member of someone who has experienced cancer  
• working with people with cancer, such as carers or healthcare professionals.  

• You don’t need to have any experience of art or have done anything creative before.  

Submission criteria:  

• Writing submissions for our print issue should not be more than 700 words.  
• Writing submissions for our digital content should not be more than 1000 words.  
• Submissions of artwork or photography should be high-resolution.   

• Please ensure you own the copyright to any work submitted.   

We are particularly interested in submissions from Global Majority communities, d/Deaf and disabled communities, the LGBTQ+ community, as well as those living in or around Bristol, South Gloucestershire or Gloucestershire.  

All contributions must be sent to flourish.mag@artlift.org by 10pm, Wednesday 3rd January 2024.  

We look at everything that is sent to us, but won’t necessarily choose everything to go into the magazine. If you have questions about our selection process, please get in touch on flourish.mag@artlift.org.   

Important: This is a volunteer and unpaid opportunity. If your work is included in the magazine, we’ll send you a copy of the issue and you will be credited.  

If you are a health or care professional, nutritionist or therapist and would like to be featured or interviewed for the magazine, please contact Editor Natalie Beech on flourish.mag@artlift.org  

We’ll let you know if your work has been selected for the printed or online magazine by Friday 12th January 2024.  

About Flourish Magazine 

Flourish Magazine is a joint venture between integrative cancer care charity Yes to Life and creative health charity Artlift and funded by Macmillan and National Lottery Awards for All, aiming to explore the benefits of an integrative and creative approach to living with cancer.  

The magazine is created with the support of a steering group that includes people living with cancer and partners Macmillan, Macmillan Next Steps and Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust.  

It features a range of creative responses, expert information and interviews in each themed edition that offer support and represent the diversity of the cancer community.  

Read more about the integrative approach here 

Read more about arts on prescription here