1st Annual Community Anthology
Young Adults with Epilepsy (YAWE) wants to celebrate and uplift the artistic expression and talents of the epilepsy community through the creation of our first collaborative Community Anthology book. Creators of every kind are invited to showcase their talents; artists from every skill level are welcome! Here you’ll find a comprehensive guide for accepted artistic mediums, rules, and submission guidelines.
The submission deadline is October 13th, NOT September 13th. Sorry about any confusion this may have caused.
What is an anthology?
An anthology is a published collection of artistic works, such as poems, stories, songs,
drawn pieces, and more. For our community book, YAWE will be publishing an
anthology of work from our young adult community. This publication will include
community creations that follow a shared theme. Any included artistic mediums will be printed into a physical book that will be available by December 2026. As long as we
can publish it in a book, it can be submitted!
How does it work?
Creation of the YAWE Community Anthology goes from August to December. As the event progresses:
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Creators start working on their pieces and submit them by the September deadline
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Guest judges for each medium then select standout works for publication
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The YAWE team reach out for further publication details such as biographies headshots, or any other information selected Creators would like to share
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The book is released for the epilepsy community to celebrate and share!
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All proceeds go directly to funding YAWE’s Peer Support programs, including support groups and workshops.
Who will be on the judging panel?
In the spirit of artistic creativity and collaboration, YAWE will be connecting with
professional artists living with epilepsy to uplift community members. Our guest judges are selected to oversee at least one artistic medium to ensure a fair review of
submissions. Who will be guest judging will be revealed after the final submission
deadline.
Theme: Epilepsy and Identity
The 2026 theme is Epilepsy and Identity. What does identity mean to you? How has
your epilepsy shaped it? What feelings come to mind when thinking about epilepsy and
identity? However you choose to interpret this theme, we look forward to seeing,
hearing, and reading your submissions!
How can I participate?
You can participate as an:
ā Author—by writing a story (fiction or nonfiction) or poem that is about Epilepsy
and Identity
ā Artist—by creating an art piece (digital or physical) about Epilepsy and Identity
ā Musician—by creating one piece about Epilepsy and Identity
Timeline
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Submissions open: Now!
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Submissions close: October 13 at midnight pacific time
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Notification of acceptance or rejection: Rolling as we receive submissions, but we will notify you no later than October 30th with a decision
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Release Date: The final book with accepted submissions will be crafted and available for purchase by December 2026
Terms and Conditions
1. You will not be paid for any published submissions- 100% of the proceeds of this anthology will be going into funding YAWE peer support programs.
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2. By submitting you agree that YAWE can use your work (credited) in press/social media/ and other materials.
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3. YAWE will not hold copyright of your work, if you chose to use this work in any other contests, publications, etc. you are free to do so.
Participation Guidelines
All participants must be within YAWE’s defined age range of 18-39 years of age.
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Furthermore, Young Adults with Epilepsy will not tolerate:
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1. Sexism, racism, queerphobia, etc. in any capacity. This is an open and inclusive collaboration. Any behavior that falls under these terms is grounds for an
immediate and permanent ban.
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2. Using AI to create your story, art, and music. This is about the content y ou
create, not what an AI has synthesized based on the works of others. If we
discover you used AI to generate your work, your submission will not be
considered for publication.
Authors
The written word is a powerful tool for attributing meaning, expressing emotional
moments, and sharing knowledge with the world. Written submissions include: fictional short stories, nonfiction short stories, and poetry.
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Short Story and Written Submission Guidelines:
1. Written submissions must be new and created specifically for this event
2. Written submissions have a maximum word count of 1,000 words.
3. Poems must be:
a. no longer than pages in length
b. Specific formatting must be included in the final submission and any additional requests must be communicated to the YAWE team
Artists
All artists are welcome regardless of skill level. Art includes any physical or digital creation that can be shared in a physical print format including but not limited to illustrations, paintings, sculptures, and comics.
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Art Submission Guidelines:
1. Art must be new and created specifically for this event
2. Illustrations must be:
a. at least one image depicting your interpretation of the theme
b. no smaller than 500px by 500px;
c. of good image quality (clean, free of artifacts/stray pixels, etc.);
d. scanned rather than photographed, if a traditional medium (unless you
can take clean, well-lit photos).
Musicians
While pages can’t sing, musicians are encouraged to share their musical prowess. Music includes lyrics, sheet music, or other ways to visually represent your piece.
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Music Submission Guidelines:
1. Music must be:
a. an original composition (sampling music is NOT allowed);
b. a minimum of 2.5 minutes total, whether that’s one song or multiple shorter songs;
c. recorded with a good quality mic in a quiet room if you are recording a
live instrument. If mixing/mastering is required we are happy to help.
d. Interpolation is allowed (at judges discretion), please list all inspiration.
2. For recorded music, it must be either sent through a distributor or have a permanent online link. We will include a QR code in the book that will link to your piece. For the rest of the page we ask you submit a visual component to accompany it. This can be lyrics, cover art, etc.
Submissions
Please submit your piece through our Google Form here. If you have any issues please email chelsea@yawecc.org. YAWE will contact you if your submission needs to be modified for a print format.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many photos am I allowed?
āIf your piece is a series a different photos, please indicate which ones are the most important. How many we allow will depend on the amount of submissions we receive. If we have questions about your submission we will contact you.
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How many pieces can I submit?
If you want to submit multiple pieces, please indicate which one is your priority submission. Depending on the amount on submissions we receive, everyone may be limited to only one submission.
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How can I submit a recorded piece of music?
To submit āa piece of music please send us the public live link to it. This can be distributed music on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal etc. or on platforms like Sound Cloud and Youtube. We will create a QR code to go to this link and include it in the book. You will also need something visual to represent your song in the book. This can be lyrics, cover art, sheet music, etc. If it can be printed on a page, we can work with it.ā
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If any of your questions aren’t answered here or elsewhere in the document, please
reach out to a YAWE staff member or email chelsea@yawecc.org, and we’ll respond as
quickly as we can.