Picture this: 1,000 feet (that’s three football fields) of handwritten letters about loneliness, displayed in a room covered in mirrors. The letters (and the loneliness) appear to extend into eternity. That’s what Ex/Post Magazine plans to do with the submissions they collect for their interactive art installation, Dear Loneliness.
Even before coronavirus, loneliness was considered a pandemic. 54% of Americans report that no one knows them well, and 49% of elderly Britons report that a TV or a pet is their closest companion. Dear Loneliness is a response to those statistics, and it promises to be the longest letter ever written (yes, a Guinness World Record).
Dear Loneliness invites authors to write a letter—by hand—about loneliness. Then, authors can take a photograph or scan the letter and send it in online.
Submissions to Dear Loneliness are not competitive; every letter submitted will be printed and displayed as part of the art installation described above. They promise not to record any identifying information, so authors are welcome to submit anonymously.
Dear Loneliness is also accepting drawings (such as portraits), musical scores, and any other forms of expression that fit on an A4-sized sheet of paper.
If you would like to learn more or submit to Dear Loneliness, please visit their website here.
Bio: Ella Peary is the pen name for an author, editor, creative writing mentor, and submission consultant. Over the past five years, she’s written hundreds of articles for Authors Publish, and she’s also served as a copywriter and copy editor for a wide range of organizations and individuals. She is the author of The Quick Start Guide to Flash Fiction. She occasionally teaches a course on flash fiction. You can contact her at ellapeary@gmail.com.
