BIG: Thoughts on a Plus-Size Life

Caitlin Press is seeking non-fiction submissions by women of all ages, orientations, colours, and backgrounds — including trans women and anyone who includes this identity in their personal history — for an upcoming anthology of non-fiction prose exploring the diverse ways women navigate a size-obsessed world. We are looking for stories about how our bodies, self-image, families, and culture shape our individual experiences around size. We want to see stories of joyful celebration, surprising revelation, grief-filled exploration, and everything in between. How does being “big” intersect with life, career, fashion, sexuality, relationships, friendships, motherhood? How do we navigate the complex world of food, health, the medical system, and the endless stream of well-intentioned (or not well-intentioned) advice? How does the social pressure around bodies influence us as children, teenagers, young women, mothers, and into our older years? What does body positivity mean, or not mean — and how does it succeed or fail to capture the issues around body shaming? How does one embrace — or struggle with — the identity of being a “plus-sized woman in a size-small world?” BIG invites its contributors to explore, ask questions about, and take a closer look at our collective and individual obsession with women’s bodies. Contributors are to investigate the intimate and all-too-often overlooked ways that being “big” influences and shapes the way women understand their own lives and the world around them.

Country of Publication & Year Established

Canada

Established in 2018