Tell Us Your Story Of Hiraeth
By: Elisabeth Khan
Tags: Hiraeth, Challenge, Letters From Li, Writing Prompts, Literary Impulse

Hiraeth is a word from the Welsh language that has no exact equivalent in English. It refers to a kind of nostalgia, similar to homesickness, but somewhat more complex. Akin to the German Sehnsucht and the Portuguese saudade, it evokes the longing for a home you may never be able to return to, and the connection with the loved ones you left behind; or, perhaps, the longing for a place that never existed, the tribe that you haven’t found yet...

You can find various pronunciations on Google, but in my humble opinion, the most authentic one is something like HEER-eye-th with a rolled “r” the “th” barely a whisper. (I checked this with my daughter’s Welsh BF!)

Courtesy of YouTube.

An invitation to write

If you’re like me and you can’t resist a challenge, or if this mysterious word from verdant Wales stirs something in the depths of your soul, we hope you will respond by sending us your work, poetry or prose, long or short. The window to participate will be from August 10th through September 25th.

Our panel, led by Theme Editor Keta Nachi, will be reading all submissions from that period as they come in and select the best entries (we’re thinking 4 poems and 3 prose pieces) to be published in an e-book anthology whose cover, by artist Tanvi Naik, you can admire below:

What are we looking for? Beautiful writing, in the first place. It’s not necessary (although perfectly acceptable) to actually use the word “hiraeth” either in the title or the text of your submission, as long as the sentiment is evoked, described, explained or whatever else you can imagine doing with it!

How to submit? You can read our general submission guidelines here:

For this challenge, we ask that you use the appropriate tags:

#hiraeth #literaryimpulse followed by your own choice (poetry, nonfiction, fiction, etc.)

NOW GET THE BALL ROLLING! Last but not least, we request that you TAG 5 other writers to take up a challenge, with a theme of YOUR choice. So, not “hiraeth” but another word or phrase that intrigues YOU!

Good things come to those who wait…

“Yeah, yeah, how many times have I heard that? Why don’t I just hit “Publish” and see what happens? Or send my work to a no-editing-required, no-questions-asked medium publication?” I hear you ask.

Well, of course, you’re free to do that! However, if you are serious about your craft, you could do worse than write for Literary Impulse, where you will meet a team of diligent editors who care. We want to shine a light on your talent and help readers discover your work. Our presence is growing and the sky is the limit.

Literary Impulse is not a one-man show, but an international collaboration of dedicated Literature Lovers. Every submission is read and evaluated by multiple team members. Sometimes we may suggest a few edits. We aim to become ever more discerning in the future. To be published in Literary Impulse is fast becoming a badge of honor. We support and promote our writers on Medium, on our website, and on various social media.

And if I’m rejected?

Since we publish only a limited number of posts in each cycle, there’s always a possibility that your work may not be accepted, this time. Should that happen, please do not interpret it as a negative judgment of the quality of your work. All it means is that the majority of our panel voted for some submissions they happened to like even more, and the slate is already complete for this particular publishing cycle. Submit your work to our Medium publication anytime! We will confirm after receiving it and give you an idea of the expected time to publication. If you think it is too long a wait, we will understand and hope that you will try us again in the near future.

Yours truly,

Elisabeth Khan, Editor

Literary Impulse