Atlas is a recently established medical literary journal, both online and in print, that hopes to encourage thought and open discussion on the ascientific and creative aspects of medicine and the human body.

The journal takes its name from the atlas, the first vertebra in the body. Supporting the skull, the atlas allows the head to nod yes.

We hope that Atlas will become a space to share questions, appreciation and respect for the body’s structure and complexity. We want to recognise that the body exists within a social and cultural context that differs for each individual. We believe that illness and suffering should be interpreted and treated within this context and it is through stories and metaphor that we can connect with these differences.

We hope to publish our first issue in print in mid 2016 and are currently open for submissions.

For our first issue, we are keeping contributions as open and wide-ranging as possible, accepting all forms of poetry, prose, short stories and non-fiction from writers, doctors, patients and artists.

We also want to provide a space for everyday New Zealanders to share their views on the current state of the health system, to provide a voice for those who feel their needs have fallen through the cracks and for those within the system to share their views.

Here are some topics that have been on our mind recently that we’d be interested in your thoughts on:

•      architecture, housing and health
•      the sociology of diagnosis
•      interactions between gender and the physical body
•      the emotional and philosophical aspects of surgical intervention
•      the healthcare needs of indigenous people
•      the meaning/meaninglessness of suffering and pain

Submissions close at 10pm on the 31st of May 2016. For more information please visit atlasliteraryjournal.org/submission.