About
What’s in a name?
The first mention of aeronautics in history was in the writings of the ancient Egyptians who described the flight of birds.
“Afrocentricity is a paradigm based on the idea that African people should re-assert a sense of agency in order to achieve sanity.” ~Dr. Molefi Kete Asante
Afronautical is my idea of Afrocentricity taking flight. Afronautical Press is a poetry publisher that seeks to express nationwide, poetry from the Afrocentric point of view, to encompass everyone, as we are all believed to be descendants of the first homo-sapiens –found in Africa, the original people. One Blood, One Love.
Purpose
Our purpose is to give exposure to the poetic expressions of up and coming poets. We do not accept all submissions, but we accept and publish poetry that is methodical, non cliché, non ambiguous, non offensive in the sense it utilizes or makes racist, discriminating, sexist remarks that are emotionally damaging to others, but offensive in the sense of the sentiment: “The truth hurts.” We appreciate poetry that is heart-felt or mind boggling, shocking, inspirational and passionate. We have various themes for publications each month, of which one can enter their poetry.
Publication Rules
Please do not send previously published poetry or copyrighted materials. Plagiarism is unacceptable. If you have sent a poem to another publication or contest please inform us. Please send only original unpublished works.
Being that we are a newly formed press or publisher and must pay for our own overhead and expenses out of pocket, WE DO NOT PAY YOU for any poetry you submit to us that we accept for the publication. Upon acceptance of your poem for publication, you must confirm that you are the original writer of your works and accept all liability and legal responsibility in the event that plagiarism is manifested in your works.
We sell our books electronically on Amazon in order to pay for the overhead production of resources utilized to create each book as well as the time utilized for review and organizing the publication, advertising and the like. However, we do not ever ask you to pay to be a part of our book publication or treat this as a competition. We hope to give you more exposure and credibility as a poet, -a voice to enhance your poetic or artistic platform.
If you are an artist who would like to submit art work for the front cover of the chapbook, please submit your works in JPG format and upon acceptance of your submission, you must confirm that you are the original and sole artist of your works and accept all liability and legal responsibility in the event that plagiarism is manifested in your art. Poets please submit your works in a Microsoft Word document or an Adobe PDF file.
Contact
To support the “Going Green Campaign”, we like to utilize electronic mail as much as possible. So please email your poetry and cover art submissions and or questions to: maryannesbookshelf@yahoo.com
Auto-Bio
Please write a mini autobiography about yourself to include any of the following information:
Name, age, where you reside (city and/or state), your inspirations, how long you have been writing/artistic, what prompted you to be a writer/artist, travels, your purpose or message, words you live by, your credo or life philosophy, occupation, education, famous lineage or ties, artists or poets who have inspired you, web links, websites, other works and where available for purchase, etc.
Chapbook Themes Calendar
| Month | Theme/Topic | Closing Date |
| Jan | New Beginnings, Starting Over, When one door closes, another opens | Jan 31 |
| Feb | Love, Relationships, Marriage, Divorce | Feb 28 |
| Mar | Human Emotions, Fear, Anger, Joy, Sadness | Mar 31 |
| Apr | Traffic, Traffic Jam, Traffic Accident, Carpooling, Bus Ride, The Subway, Transportation | Apr 30 |
| May | An Imaginary Encounter With A Real Person (You’d Like To Meet) | May 31 |
| Jun | Racism, Discrimination, Hatred, Bigotry, Racial Profiling | Jun 30 |
| Jul | Life After Death, A Near Death Experience, Life Altering Experience | Jul 31 |
| Aug | Integrity, Honesty, Self-Respect, Morality | Aug 31 |
| Sep | The 7 Deadly Sins: Greed, Pride, Lust, Sloth, Anger, Gluttony, Envy | Sep 30 |
| Oct | Beauty: Natural, Surgical, Internal, Superficial, Etc. | Oct 31 |
| Nov | Success, Ambition, Responsibility, Honor, Growth, Vanity, Ugliness | Nov 30 |
| Dec | Deliverance, Saved, Rescued, Renewed, Re-empowered | Dec 31 |
Please note, these themes and topics are ideas, and don’t have to be taken literally, but can be taken metaphorically or symbolically, and you can write on any facet of the topic. It can be as ambiguous as you’ d like, but still have some link or commonality with the theme at hand, and the same applies to art work submissions. We look forward to hearing from you.