09 June 2009

Reposted: Call for Submissions: Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation

Call For Submissions
GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION
Kate Bornstein & S Bear Bergman, eds


Deadline: 1 September 2009

In the fifteen years since the release of Gender Outlaw, transgender narratives have made their way into cultural locations from the margins to the mainstream and back again. Today's trannies and other sex/gender radicals are writing a radically new world into being. GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION (Seal Press) will collect and contextualize the work of this generation's most forward-thinking trans/genderqueer voices—new voices from the stage, on the streets, in the workplace, in the bedroom, and on the pages and websites of the world's most respected mainstream news sources. Edited by that ol' original Gender Outlaw herself, Kate Bornstein and writer, raconteur, and theater artist S. Bear Bergman, GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION will include essays, commentary, comic art and conversation from a diverse a group of trans-spectrum people who live and believe in barrier-breaking lives.

*What we’re looking for*

GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION wants to collect work that represents a quantum leap forward in thinking and talking about gender and the gender binary, in the same way Gender Outlaw did almost twenty years ago. So blow us away. Bring the smart, bring the sexy, blind us with science, break the gender barrier, shine a bright light (or a disco ball) on the whole gender situation. Tell us about your future, what you imagine, how you want things to go and what you (and your friends) intend to do about it. Think big.

We’ll look at whatever you have for us – essays, graphic art, interviews/conversations, haiku, rants – as long as you’re thinking smart and fresh about sex and gender (and being an outlaw, of course). We will feel especially keen about your work if it adds to or advances the conversation about gender (as distinct from simply reflecting it, or lamenting it).

People of any identity are encouraged to submit work. This means you – yes, you!

We intend to privilege non-normatively gendered/sexed voices in the book but will include all the good stuff we can, regardless of current identifiers of the author.

*The Details*

Deadline: Sept 1 (early submissions are encouraged). Submissions should be unpublished; query if you have a reprint that you think we’ll swoon for. While we hesitate to list a maximum, please query first for pieces over 4,000 words. If you have an idea and need help writing it out, contact us to discuss an interview-style piece or other accommodations.

Submit as a Word document or black/white JPEG (no files over 2MB). Please include a cover letter with a brief bio and full contact information (mailing address, phone number, pseudonym if appropriate) when you submit. Submissions without complete contact information will be deleted unread. Payment will be $50 and 2 copies of the book upon publication in Fall 2010. Contributors retain the rights to their pieces. Send your submission as an attachment to genderoutlawsnextgeneration@gmail.com.

~please repost lots and lots, as appropriate~

Deleting E-mails

Deleting email seems to be an easy task, but when you've got nearly 12,000 in your inbox, getting it down to (hopefully) 4 or 5 is an almost impossible dream. Anyway, it keeps me preoccupied.

Moving out soon, hopefully

I will hopefully be moving out of my parents house soon. Moving to Chicago from South Bend will be nice as well. Maybe I can finally meet some new interesting people, as I think I have exhausted the supply in SB. My opportunities for a social circle my age will increase. Even though I like a lot of the folks I met on the campaign and in other volunteer activities, their lives are more established than my own.

26 May 2009

Grandma's Yahrzeit

My grandmother's yahrzeit was this past week. It's been nineteen years, and the few memories that I had formed surrounding her are dimming. Most of what I know about her comes from stories about her, facts about her life, trinkets that she left behind. I wish I had kept those hunter green pajamas with white polka dots she gave me our last Chanukah together - if only to have something tangible left of her. The intangibles are many, but their vibrance is fading. Her voice is harder to recall now, as are her mannerisms, and the only habit of hers I remember is the naps she took every afternoon. However, her kindness will live on forever.

05 May 2009

What a relief

I find relief when someone puts facts about me together by hirself, saving me from the choice of a lot of explanation or continuing to hide. When I can answer what my name is, and not what my entire life story is or has been until now, I am relieved. And its's always good to hear someone refer to me properly.