Our past clings to us. The distortions, the harrowing truths, the lies we tell ourselves. Are we capable of forming a perfect image of the past, or are they just echoes?
What better way to pay tribute to The Liar’s 40th anniversary than with the Memory issue?
Think of memory as nostalgia and commemoration. As the history that lives in your body. It can bowl you over like a tide, or drip into your subconscious late at night. Memory can be an obsession. A familiar smell, the taste of fruit, the beat of a song, the touch of sand.
What holds onto memory for you when life gets in the way: a place, a keepsake, a person? Where do you go to return to them? How do you get there?
Who do you wish you could forget? And who do you remember, nevertheless? Wonder: what is real, and what’s a mirage? Think about how these fragments create you, confuse you, challenge you, and coalesce into the world around you. What begs to be forgotten, preserved, rewritten?
Ask yourself what the land remembers. What stories it tells. What you’ve inherited. How do you honour your legacy?
We invite you to submit your original work – short stories, prose, poetry, creative non-fiction, visual art – and share what memory means to you. Convince of us your uncertainty. Your moments of making.
To celebrate 40 years of The Liar, tell us:
What do you remember?
This open call for The Liar’s Writing Contest is for new and unpublished work on the theme of Memory.
This contest is only open to currently enrolled students of Capilano University.
We accept written submissions to a maximum of 2500 words or eight (8) pages, whichever comes first.
Writing includes all kinds of prose and/or poetry: multi-genre works, literary essays, creative non-fiction, personal essays, memoirs & travelogues, short stories & genre-based fiction, creative journalism, scripts & monologues, and cross-genre poems, among others.
Please include content warnings where you see applicable. We will not consider works that include hateful rhetoric or works intended to cause harm.
We will also not consider work that uses AI in any regard. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Generative AI or AI in the process of idea generation
- AI in the process of editing and/or revising
- The enhancement of language or visual elements/images supported by AI
- AI in place of research
Each person is allowed to submit up to three (3) pieces maximum. Please submit all writing as .PDF, .DOC, or .DOCX
Do not include your name on any uploaded materials.
**All submissions to this category will also be entered into the LIAR’S CHOICE STAFF PICK AWARD. Alongside the selection of a winner in Writing, Visual Media, and Multidisciplinary categories, The Liar Editorial Team will be choosing a fourth winner selected from any category!
Please note: This open call for The Liar’s Visual Media category is for existing artistic works; we are not asking artists to produce new or commissioned work.
This contest is only open to currently enrolled students of Capilano University.
We accept visual submissions that adhere to the theme of Memory. This includes the following: photography, traditional artworks, digital artworks, sculpture or 3D works submitted as a photograph, and multimedia design with no or very minimal writing. If selected as a finalist, you will have the opportunity to submit an Artist Statement up to 250 words, but it is not mandatory. Please ensure that your work has a minimum of 300dpi or vector, and the entire piece should be able to fit on to a 8.5” x 11” page. Works of visual media are permitted to include written elements, but these elements should be limited and secondary to the piece. We will be judging the visual merits of your work, not the literary quality. Please include content warnings where you see applicable. We will not consider works that include hateful rhetoric or works intended to cause harm. We will also not consider work that uses AI in any regard. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Generative AI or AI in the process of idea generation
- AI in the process of editing and/or revising
- The enhancement of language or visual elements/images supported by AI
- AI in place of research
Each person is allowed to submit up to three (3) pieces maximum. Please submit all visual media as .PNG, .JPG, .SVG, .TIFF, .AI, or .PSD.
Do not include your name on any uploaded materials.
**All submissions to this category will also be entered into the LIAR’S CHOICE STAFF PICK AWARD. Alongside the selection of a winner in Writing, Visual Media, and Multidisciplinary categories, The Liar Editorial Team will be choosing a fourth winner selected from any category!
This open call for The Liar’s Multidisciplinary Contest is for new and unpublished work on the theme of Memory.
This contest is only open to currently enrolled students of Capilano University.
Multidisciplinary submissions must include near equal parts of visual and textual elements and will be judged on how these elements work together.
This category includes (but is not limited to): up to two (2) pages of a comic strip, collage if the written work is primarily orchestrated by you, a poem or prose piece that is supported by visual media, storyboards, and… anything else that you feel fits!
Your visual components should have a minimum of 300dpi or vector, and the entire piece should be able to fit on to an 8.5” x 11” page.
Please include content warnings where you see applicable. We will not consider works that include hateful rhetoric or works intended to cause harm.
We will also not consider work that uses AI in any regard. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Generative AI or AI in the process of idea generation
- AI in the process of editing and/or revising
- The enhancement of language or visual elements/images supported by AI
- AI in place of research
Please ensure that your visual and textual elements are submitted together, as one piece. If you submit written and visual components separately, they will be judged as separate works.
Each person is allowed to submit up to three (3) pieces maximum. Please submit all files as .PDF, .DOC, .DOCX, .PNG, .JPG, .SVG, .TIFF, .AI, or .PSD.
Do not include your name on any uploaded materials.
**All submissions to this category will also be entered into the LIAR’S CHOICE STAFF PICK AWARD. Alongside the selection of a winner in Writing, Visual Media, and Multidisciplinary categories, The Liar Editorial Team will be choosing a fourth winner selected from any category!
This open call for The Liar is for new and unpublished work on the theme of Memory.
We welcome submissions from anyone who considers themselves in any way part of the Capilano U community present, past, or future. This could be location-based (i.e. currently living in BC), alumni, employee, a friend or family member who went to school here, or someone who wants to go to school here, and others. You decide!
Written Submissions
We accept written submissions to a maximum of 2500 words or eight (8) pages, whichever comes first. Writing includes all kinds of prose and/or poetry: multi-genre works, literary essays, creative non-fiction, personal essays, memoirs & travelogues, short stories & genre-based fiction, creative journalism, scripts & monologues, and cross-genre poems, among others.
Please include content warnings where you see applicable. We will not consider works that include hateful rhetoric or works intended to cause harm.
Please submit all writing as .PDF, .DOC, or .DOCX.
Visual Arts & Multidisciplinary Submissions
We also accept visual and multidisciplinary submissions, though we would prefer black and white submissions to lower printing costs.
Visual Arts
For visual, this includes the following: photography, traditional artworks, digital artworks, sculpture or 3D works submitted as a photograph, and multimedia design with no or very minimal writing. Please ensure that your work has a minimum of 300dpi or vector, and the entire piece should be able to fit on a 8.5” x 11” page. Works of visual media are permitted to include written elements, but these elements should be limited and secondary to the piece. We will be judging the visual merits of your work, not the literary quality.
Please submit all visual media as .PNG, .JPG, .SVG, .TIFF, .AI, or .PSD;
Multidisciplinary Submissions
Multidisciplinary submissions must include near equal parts of visual and textual elements and will be judged on how these elements work together. This category includes (but is not limited to): up to two (2) pages of a comic strip, collage if the written work is primarily orchestrated by you, a poem or prose piece that is supported by visual media, storyboards, and… anything else that you feel fits!
Please submit all multidisciplinary submissions as .PDF, .DOC, .DOCX, .PNG, .JPG, .SVG, .TIFF, .AI, or .PSD.
AI and Other Guidelines
We will also not consider work that uses AI in any regard. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Generative AI or AI in the process of idea generation
- AI in the process of editing and/or revising
- The enhancement of language or visual elements/images supported by AI
- AI in place of research
Each person is allowed to submit up to three (3) pieces maximum.
Do not include your name on any uploaded materials.
These submission will not be considered for the contest prizes. Publication is your prize!