OutWrite 2023 Chapbook Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 30, 2023
MEDIA CONTACTS: [email protected]

Submissions Opening for OutWrite’s 2023 Chapbook Competition 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — OutWrite is pleased to announce its fifth Chapbook Competition, running from June 1st to June 30th. The winning chapbooks will be celebrated at the 2023 OutWrite LGBTQ literary festival.

Each winner will receive 25 copies of their winning chapbook, an offer of print publication from Neon Hemlock Press, and an opportunity to read from their work at OutWrite 2024.

Winning chapbooks will be selected in three categories by the competition judges:

Poetry: Rasha Abdulhadi

Rasha Abdulhadi is a queer Palestinian Southerner disabled by Long Covid. They grew up between Damascus and rural Georgia and cut their teeth organizing on the southsides of Chicago and Atlanta. Rasha’s writing appears in Kweli, Poem-a-Day, Electric Lit, carte blanche, Anathema, Shade Journal, FIYAH, Mizna, ROOM, Strange Horizons, and Lambda Literary. Their work is anthologized in Snaring New Suns, Unfettered Hexes, Halal if You Hear Me, and Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia Butler. Rasha’s recent chapbook is who is owed springtime.

Nonfiction: Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan is the author of the novel Big Girl, The Poetics of Difference, and Blue Talk and Love, winner of the Judith A. Markowitz Award from Lambda Literary. Sullivan is an associate professor of English at Georgetown University. A native of Harlem, she lives in Washington, DC. Her writing has appeared in Best New Writing, Kenyon Review, American Fiction, Prairie Schooner, Callaloo, Crab Orchard Review, The Cut, American Literary History, Black Futures, American Quarterly, GLQ: Lesbian and Gay Studies Quarterly, Ebony, The Root, and others, and has earned honors from the Center for Fiction, the American Association of University Women, the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Fiction: K.M. Szpara

K.M. Szpara is a queer and trans author who lives in Baltimore, MD, with his small dog and large cat. He is the author of speculative novels such as First, Become Ashes (2021) and Docile (2020), and a third forthcoming that follows up on his Hugo and Nebula nominated novelette, “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time.” They’re about cults and trauma, consent and debt, and a horny trans vampire, respectively. His short fiction appears in Tor.com, Uncanny, Lightspeed, and more. You can find himme on the Internet at kmszpara.com and on Twitter and Instagram at @kmszpara.

There is no fee to enter this contest.

Please follow these guidelines in preparing your submission:

  • Chapbooks may be submitted in three categories: poetry, nonfiction and fiction
  • We will accept submissions in all three categories in English.
  • OutWrite is a celebration of LGBTQ literature; entries that explore aspects of LGBTQ culture or identity are encouraged.
  • Thematically-linked works are encouraged, but not required. There are no limitations regarding genre.
  • Manuscripts should be no shorter than 20 pages and no longer than 40 pages. This does not include the table of contents or title page.
  • Submissions are open from June 1 to June 30th, 2023.
  • Each writer may only submit one entry per category.
  • Your manuscript should be in a standard size 12 font. Please single-space poetry and double-space prose/nonfiction. Please include a title page and a table of contents; you may include acknowledgements etc. if you like, but winning entries will also be given the opportunity to adjust front and back matter before publication.
  • The collection as a whole must be unpublished, but individual poems/stories/essays may be previously published (as long as relevant rights have reverted to you).
  • We will be accepting simultaneously submitted work. 
  • Winners will be announced in August 2023. Publication will be in mid-2024.

Entries must be submitted no earlier than June 1 to June 30th 2023. The submission window closes at 11:59pm EST on June 30th.

Submit all entries via Submittable. Queries can be made to [email protected]. If Submittable is inaccessible to you for any reason, please email your submission to the email above with all of the information requested by the form.

Any updates to these guidelines will be posted here.

About OutWrite
OutWrite is a celebration of LGBT literature, held annually the first weekend in August in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit: thedccenter.org/outwrite.

About Neon Hemlock Press
Neon Hemlock is a purveyor of queer chapbooks and speculative fiction based in Washington, DC. More information at www.neonhemlock.com.

About the DC Center
The DC Center for the LGBT Community educates, empowers, celebrates, and connects the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. To fulfill our mission, we focus on four core areas: health and wellness, arts & culture, social & support services, and advocacy and community building. We envision communities where LGBT people feel healthy, safe, and affirmed.

 

Submissions Open for OutWrite’s 2022 Journal

Light blue background with a typewriter graphic on the left with paper trailing out of it. Headline: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS. Text: This year's OutWrite festival journal theme is "Pandemic as Portal". We're seeking fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. No fee. Word count: 1500 words for fiction, up to 3 poems, no more than 6 pages total. $150 honorariums. Submit: bit.ly/outwrite2022journal. Rainbow logos for OutWrite and The DC Center.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 18, 2022
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marlena Chertock and Malik Thompson, OutWrite Co-Chairs
[email protected]

Submissions Opening for OutWrite’s 2022 Festival Journal

OutWrite LGBTQ Literary Festival is pleased to announce submissions are now open for our annual literary journal. The “Pandemic as Portal” Issue seeks to explore the tumultuous interconnectedness of injustices that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated. We want this journal to serve as a space to document and process pain, the cognitive dissonance of just being told to continue on as normal, as well as the inherent resilience, its manifestations through queer joy, love, and other emotions you’d like to share with us.

The journal will be distributed ahead of the OutWrite 2022 literary festival and celebrated with a reading from contributors during the festival.

Rasha Abdulhadi is this year’s journal editor and Dorilyn Toledo, our OutWrite intern, is the assistant editor.

There is no fee to enter.

Please follow these guidelines in preparing your submission:

  • Submissions are open from April 15 to May 15, 2022. The submission window closes at 11:59 p.m. PST on May 15.
  • We’re seeking unpublished fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We will accept submissions in English.
  • We are seeking original and reprint work; unpublished work is prioritized. We will be accepting simultaneously submitted work. Individual poems/stories/essays may be previously published (as long as relevant rights have reverted to you).
  • Your submission should be in a standard size 12 font. Single-space poetry and double-space prose/nonfiction. Prose submissions should be no more than 1,500 words. We will prioritize work that is 1,000 words and under. Poetry submissions can include up to 3 poems and no more than 6 pages total.
  • OutWrite is a celebration of LGBTQ literature; entries that explore aspects of LGBTQ culture or identity are encouraged. Submissions must explore this year’s theme of “Pandemic as Portal”.
  • We will not consider work with sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, or ableist themes.
  • We are providing a $150 honorarium via PayPal for accepted contributors. Please include your PayPal information when submitting, and indicate on the form if PayPal payment does NOT work for you.
  • If your work is accepted, we may extend an invitation for you to join a virtual reading at the OutWrite 2022 festival, taking place on August 5-7, 2022.

Submit all entries via our Google Form. If the Google Form is inaccessible to you for any reason, please email your submission to [email protected] with all of the information requested by the form.

Editor Bios

In this painted portrait, the author, a genderqueer Palestinian person with long wavy black hair with a pale streak in front, is staring directly at the viewer from against a fiery orange background. They are wearing large horn-rimmed glasses and a grey and black rippled scarf. Their turquoise stud earring is visible on the right ear.Rasha Abdulhadi is a queer Palestinian Southerner and the author of WHO IS OWED SPRINGTIME (Neon Hemlock, 2021) and Shell Houses (The Head & The Hand Press, 2017).

 

 

 

 

 

Brown woman smiling and wearing a textured white tank blouse with gold earrings and a dark bob haircut with bangs slicked back, in front of grass, trees, and housing spaces.Dorilyn Toledo is a Guatemalan-Filipina editor and educator from California. She is a graduating senior at UC Irvine where she studies Political Science and Social Ecology, focusing on law/race and social behavior. They can be found on Her Campus Media and on Twitter @dorilyntoledo.

 

 

 

 

About OutWrite
OutWrite is a celebration of LGBTQ+ literature, held annually the first weekend in August in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit: thedccenter.org/outwrite.

About the DC Center
The DC Center for the LGBT Community educates, empowers, celebrates, and connects the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. To fulfill our mission, we focus on four core areas: health and wellness, arts & culture, social & support services, and advocacy and community building. We envision communities where LGBT people feel healthy, safe, and affirmed.

Submissions Open for OutWrite’s 2022 Chapbook Competition

info about Outwrite 2022 Chapbook Contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 8, 2022
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marlena Chertock and Malik Thompson, OutWrite Co-Chairs
[email protected]

Submissions Opening for OutWrite’s 2022 Chapbook Competition 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — OutWrite is pleased to announce its fourth Chapbook Competition, running from March 15th to May 15th. The winning chapbooks will be celebrated at the 2022 OutWrite LGBTQ literary festival.

Each winner will receive 25 copies of their winning chapbook, an offer of print publication from Neon Hemlock Press, and an opportunity to read from their work at OutWrite 2022.

Winning chapbooks will be selected in three categories by the competition judges:

Nonfiction: Joseph Osmundson

Joe Osmundson is a scientist and writer based in New York City.  He has a PhD from The Rockefeller University in Molecular Biophysics. His book of essays, VIROLOGY, is forthcoming in 2022 from W.W. Norton. His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Gawker, The Kenyon Review, The Rumpus, The Lambda Literary Review, and The Feminist Wire, and elsewhere, too. He is also the author of Capsid: A Love Song and INSIDE/OUT.  With three other queer writers, he co-hosts a podcast, Food 4 Thot, covering dicks, drama, and discourse. You can find his sad tweets on Twitter @reluctantlyjoe.

Fiction: Brent Lambert

Brent Lambert is a Black, queer man who heavily believes in the transformative power of speculative fiction across media formats. He resides in San Diego but spent a lot of time moving around as a military brat. His family roots are in the Cajun country of Louisiana. Currently, he manages the social media for FIYAH Literary Magazine and just had an anthology produced with Tor.com titled Breathe FIYAH. He has work published with FIYAH, Anathema Magazine, Cotton Xenomorph, Baffling Magazine and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. His novella A Necessary Chaos is forthcoming in 2022 from Neon Hemlock. He can be found on Twitter @brentclambert talking about the weird and the fantastic. 

Poetry: Saida Agostini

Saida is a queer Afro-Guyanese poet whose work explores the ways that Black folks harness mythology to enter the fantastic. Saida’s first collection of poems, the critically acclaimed let the dead in, is forthcoming from Alan Squire Publishing. She is the author of STUNT (Neon Hemlock), a chapbook exploring the history of Nellie Jackson, a Black woman entrepreneur who operated a brothel for sixty years in Natchez, Mississippi. Her poetry can also be found in the Black Ladies Brunch Collective’s anthology Not Without Our Laughter, Barrelhouse Magazine, Hobart Pulp, Plume, and other publications. A Cave Canem Graduate Fellow, Saida has been awarded honors and support for her work by the Watering Hole and Blue Mountain Center, as well as a 2018 Rubys Grant. Find her online at saidaagostini.com.

There is no fee to enter this contest.

Please follow these guidelines in preparing your submission:

  • Chapbooks may be submitted in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
  • We will accept submissions in all three categories in English.
  • OutWrite is a celebration of LGBTQ literature; entries that explore aspects of LGBTQ culture or identity are encouraged.
  • Thematically-linked works are encouraged, but not required. There are no limitations regarding genre.
  • Manuscripts should be no shorter than 20 pages and no longer than 40 pages. This does not include the table of contents or title page.
  • Submissions are open from March 15th to May 15th, 2022.
  • Each writer may only submit one entry per category.
  • Your manuscript should be in a standard size 12 font. Please single-space poetry and double-space prose/nonfiction. Please include a title page and a table of contents; you may include acknowledgements etc. if you like, but winning entries will also be given the opportunity to adjust front and back matter before publication.
  • The collection as a whole must be unpublished, but individual poems/stories/essays may be previously published (as long as relevant rights have reverted to you).
  • We will be accepting simultaneously submitted work. 
  • Winners will be announced in July. Publication will be in late 2022.

Entries must be submitted no earlier than March 15th, 2022 and no later than May 15th, 2022. The submission window closes at 11:59pm EST on May 15th.

Submit all entries via Submittable. Queries can be made to [email protected]. If Submittable is inaccessible to you for any reason, please email your submission to the email above with all of the information requested by the form.

Any updates to these guidelines will be posted here.

About OutWrite
OutWrite is a celebration of LGBT literature, held annually the first weekend in August in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit: thedccenter.org/outwrite.

About Neon Hemlock Press
Neon Hemlock is a purveyor of queer chapbooks and speculative fiction based in Washington, DC. More information at www.neonhemlock.com.

About the DC Center
The DC Center for the LGBT Community educates, empowers, celebrates, and connects the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. To fulfill our mission, we focus on four core areas: health and wellness, arts & culture, social & support services, and advocacy and community building. We envision communities where LGBT people feel healthy, safe, and affirmed.

Submissions Open for OutWrite’s 2021 Chapbook Competition 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 5, 2021
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marlena Chertock and Malik Thompson, OutWrite Co-Chairs
[email protected]

Submissions Opening for OutWrite’s 2021 Chapbook Competition 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — OutWrite is pleased to announce its third Chapbook Competition, running from April 15th to June 15th, 2021. The winning chapbooks will be celebrated at the 2021 OutWrite LGBTQ Literary Festival. Submission details are included at the end of this text.

Each winner will receive 25 copies of their winning chapbook, an offer of print publication from Neon Hemlock Press, and an opportunity to read from their work at OutWrite 2021.

Winning chapbooks will be selected in three categories by the competition judges:

Nonfiction: Christopher Gonzalez
Christopher Gonzalez is the author of I’m Not Hungry but I Could Eat, a story collection forthcoming from SFWP in fall 2021. His writing has appeared in the Nation, Catapult, the Millions, Best Small Fictions 2019, and elsewhere. He is a fiction editor at Barrelhouse and lives in Brooklyn, NY, but mostly on Twitter @livesinpages.

Fiction: Darcie Little Badger
Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy novels of all time, and her second novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, is publishing with Levine Querido in October 2021. Darcie’s short fiction, nonfiction and comics have appeared in multiple places, including Nightmare Magazine, Strange Horizons, and The Dark. She is currently engaged to a veterinarian named T.

Poetry: Dena Rod
Dena Rod is a non-binary poet whose work has been highlighted in My Shadow is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora, Butter Press, and Imagoes: A Queer Anthology. Their debut poetry collection is forthcoming from Milk and Cake Press May 2021. In 2020, Dena toured with Sister Spit, debuted the chapbook swallow a beginning, and joined The Rumpus‘s features team. A fellow of Kearny Street Workshop’s Interdisciplinary Writer’s Lab, Dena writes to illuminate their experiences in the Iranian American diaspora and queer communities through creative nonfiction essays and poetry. Connect with Dena at denarod.com.

There is no fee to enter this year’s contest.

Please follow these guidelines in preparing your submission:

  • Chapbooks may be submitted in three categories: fiction, nonfiction & poetry.
  • We will accept submissions in all three categories in English.
  • OutWrite is a celebration of LGBTQ literature; entries that explore aspects of LGBTQ culture or identity are encouraged.
  • Thematically-linked works are encouraged, but not required. There are no limitations regarding genre.
  • Manuscripts should be no shorter than 20 pages and no longer than 40 pages. This does not include the table of contents or title page.
  • Submissions are open from April 15th to June 15th, 2021.
  • Each writer may only submit one entry per category.
  • Your manuscript should be in a standard size 12 font. Please single-space poetry and double-space prose/nonfiction. Please include a title page and a table of contents; do not include an acknowledgements page (winning entries will be given the opportunity to adjust front and back matter before publication).
  • The collection as a whole must be unpublished, but individual poems/stories/essays may be previously published (as long as relevant rights have reverted to you).
  • We will be accepting simultaneously submitted work. All semi-finalists will be required to remove their work from simultaneous review upon notification.
  • Winners will be announced in July. Publication will be in fall 2021.

Entries must be submitted no earlier than April 15th, 2021 and no later than June 15th, 2021. The submission window closes at 11:59pm EST on June 15th.

Submit all entries via this submission form. Queries can be made to [email protected]. If the form is inaccessible to you for any reason, please email your submission to the email above with all of the information requested by the form.

Any updates to these guidelines will be posted here.

About OutWrite
OutWrite is a celebration of LGBT literature, held annually the first weekend in August in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit: thedccenter.org/outwrite.

About Neon Hemlock Press
Neon Hemlock is a purveyor of queer chapbooks and speculative fiction based in Washington, DC. More information at www.neonhemlock.com.

About the DC Center
The DC Center for the LGBT Community educates, empowers, celebrates, and connects the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. To fulfill our mission, we focus on four core areas: health and wellness, arts & culture, social & support services, and advocacy and community building. We envision communities where LGBT people feel healthy, safe, and affirmed.