Monday, October 17, 2011

New Trans Anthology Inviting Poetry Submissions!


A message about a new anthology - please reply to
transanthology@gmail.com

OPEN CALL FOR AN ANTHOLOGY OF TRANS & GENDERQUEER POETRY

Dear Author,

We want your words.

What is the project: We are creating an anthology. An anthology of
the best poems out there by trans and genderqueer writers and we would
love to include your work in the book. Our assumption is that the
writing of trans and genderqueer folks has something more than
coincidence in common with the experimental, the radical, and the
innovative in poetry and poetics (as we idiosyncratically define these
categories), and with your help we’d like to manifest that something
(or somethings) in a genderqueer multipoetics, a critical mass of
trans fabulousness.

This anthology is edited by TC Tolbert and Tim Peterson (Trace)—both
trans-identified poets. It will be published by EOAGH Books in early
2012, and you can bet it will be widely distributed!

Deadline for Submissions: Nov 30, 2011
What to Submit: 7-10 pages of poetry, and a prose “poetics” statement
(see below)
Where to Submit: email us at transanthology@gmail.com

Why is this anthology important: While trans and genderqueer poets
have existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, there has never
been a collection of poetry exclusively by trans and genderqueer
writers that also highlights a diverse range of poetics and other
marginalized identities. Each particular understanding of self and
gender creates an essentially complex and rich multipoetics that
undermines any sort of universal trans aesthetic. Inherently multi-
vocal and anti-hegemonic, a singular trans experience simply does not
exist and, frankly, we don’t want it to. For this reason, an
anthology is the most conducive venue for undoing any attempted
whitewashing and/or homogenizing of an imagined trans voice. As we
said, we want your words. The words, syntax, perspective, lyric,
narrative, image (or the disruption of any of these) that could
actually only come from you.

What kind of writing are we looking for: This anthology seeks writing
that makes us wet our panties a little bit and wonder what the f* have
we been doing with our lives all this time. While this project exists
in a historical context of several important anthologies that gather
marginalized and under-represented writers (This Bridge Called My
Back, No More Masks, The Open Boat, The World in Us, etc), this will
be the first anthology to foreground the poetic writings of trans and
genderqueer authors. The book will feature 7-10 pages of work from
approximately 35 poets and we hope you will be one of them!

A meta-layer of fabulous: One thing that makes this anthology unique
is that it will include a statement on poetics by each participant,
along with your poems. This is a chance for you to tell us something
about your writing process, writing practice, theory of life, or
whatever you like. It might include the relationship of the body and
text, or the practice of reading and misreading text and the body, or
locations, connections, and divisions of the self amongst text and the
self amongst other bodies or...you get the point.

About the editors:

TC Tolbert is a genderqueer, feminist poet and teacher committed to
social justice. S/he is the Assistant Director of Casa Libre en la
Solana and an Adjunct Instructor at The University of Arizona and Pima
Community College. S/he is the creator of Made for Flight, a youth
empowerment project that utilizes creative writing and kite building
to commemorate murdered transgender people and to dismantle homophobia
and transphobia. TC’s chapbook, territories of folding, was recently
published by Kore Press. His poems can be found in Volt, The Pinch,
Drunken Boat, Shampoo, A Trunk of Delirium, jubilat, and EOAGH. His
work won the Arizona Statewide Poetry Competition in 2010 and was a
Sawtooth finalist in 2009 and 2010. His first full length collection,
Gephyromania, is forthcoming from Ahsahta Press. www.tctolbert.com

Tim Peterson (Trace) is a trans-identified poet, critic, and editor.
The author of Since I Moved In (Chax Press), and Violet Speech (2nd
Avenue Poetry), Peterson also edits EOAGH: A Journal of the Arts
(which published a special issue Queering Language dedicated to trans
poet and mentor kari edwards in 2007). Peterson’s poetry and criticism
have been published in Colorado Review, EBR, Five Fingers Review,
Harvard Review, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, The Poetry Project
Newsletter, Transgender Tapestry, and in the recent book NO GENDER:
Reflections on the Life and Work of kari edwards (Belladonna/Limus
Press). A Ph.D. student at CUNY Graduate Center, Peterson curates the
TENDENCIES: Poetics & Practice talks series dedicated to queer writing
and the manifesto. More information at http://tendenciespoetics.com

We are incredibly excited about this project and look forward to
working with you!

Thank you!

TC and Trace




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