Submissions Open for OutWrite’s 2021 Chapbook Competition 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 5, 2021
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marlena Chertock and Malik Thompson, OutWrite Co-Chairs
outwritedc@gmail.com

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 outwritecontest@gmail.com. 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.

Washington D.C.’s LGBTQ Literary Festival OutWrite Welcomes New Leadership

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marlena Chertock, Malik Thompson, OutWrite Co-Chairs
outwritedc@gmail.com

Local poets Marlena Chertock and Malik Thompson have been announced as the new Co-Chairs of OutWrite. After 5 years of service, culminating in the 2020 festival being nominated for the 35th Annual Mayor’s Arts Award, writer and editor dave ring is stepping down as Chair of the festival. We thank him for his many years and support of OutWrite.

Malik and Marlena look forward to continuing OutWrite’s mission of cultivating inclusive literary programming that reflects and uplifts trans/queer literary communities. Both poets come to this work after being engaged in literary community — including festivals, conferences, poetry readings, open mic series, and writing workshops — at both the local and national level for years. OutWrite is delighted to have them at the helm, looking towards 2021 with the intention of centering BIPOC writers, Indigenous writers, and disabled writers.

OutWrite has extended the submission deadline for 2020’s two special edition festival journals: Ten Year Retrospective and We Got This: Black Writers on Imagination, Joy and Liberation. The new deadline is November 30. View submission guidelines here.

Mark your calendars for next year’s festival, which will be August 6-8, 2021. Due to this uncertain time, we will be planning OutWrite 2021 with the assumption that it will be virtual. We will release updates as the situation develops. Please visit outwritedc.org for more information and submit your ideas for panels and readings!

More about the Co-Chairs of OutWrite

Marlena Chertock, a white writer with short brown hair in a jean jacket with a space scarf holding a copy of her book.

Marlena Chertock has two books of poetry, Crumb-sized: Poems (Unnamed Press) and On that one-way trip to Mars (Bottlecap Press). She uses her skeletal dysplasia as a bridge to scientific writing. She is queer, disabled, and a 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee. Marlena serves as Co-Chair of OutWrite, Washington, D.C.’s annual LGBTQ literary festival, and on the Board of Split This Rock, a nonprofit that cultivates poetry that bears witness to injustice and provokes social change. Her poetry and prose has appeared in AWP’s The Writer’s Notebook, Breath & Shadow, The Deaf Poets Society, Lambda Literary Review, Little Patuxent Review, Neon Hemlock Press, Noble/Gas Quarterly, Paper Darts, Paranoid Tree, Plants & Poetry, Rogue Agent, Unheard Poetry, Washington Independent Review of Books, WMN Zine, Wordgathering, and more. Find her at marlenachertock.com and @mchertock.

 

Malik, a queer Black man, in front of a purple wall.

Malik Thompson is a Black queer man proud to be from D.C. A bookseller, anime fanatic, and workshop facilitator. Malik has worked with Split This Rock, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Moonlit DC as a workshop facilitator. He also organized the Poets In Protest poetry series at the Black queer owned bookstore Loyalty Bookstores. Malik’s work can be found inside of Split This Rock’s Poetry Database as well as the mixed media journal Voicemail Poems. You can find Malik’s thoughts on literature via his Instagram account @negroliterati.

 

 

 

About OutWrite

OutWrite is a celebration of LGBTQ literature, held annually the first weekend in August in Washington, D.C. The 2021 festival will be August 6-8, 2021. 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.

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OutWrite 2020 Chapbook Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 5, 2020
MEDIA CONTACTS:
dave ring, OutWrite Chair
outwritedc@gmail.com

 

Submissions Opening for OutWrite’s 2020 Chapbook Competition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — OutWrite is pleased to announce its second Chapbook Competition, running from May 5th to June 5th, 2020.  The winning chapbooks will be celebrated at the 2020 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 2020 on Sunday, August 2nd.

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

Nonfiction: Tyrese Coleman
Tyrese L. Coleman is a writer, wife, mother, and attorney. Her debut collection of stories and essays, How to Sit, was published by Mason Jar Press in 2018 and nominated for a 2019 PEN Open Book Award. Her work has appeared as a notable in Best American Essays 2018 and 2016 and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Fiction: Rivers Solomon 
Rivers Solomon writes about life in the margins, where they are much at home. Their debut novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts, was a finalist for a Hurston/Wright and Lambda award and appeared on the Stonewall Honor List. Their novella, The Deep, has been nominated for a Hugo and Nebula. Solomon’s next book is forthcoming 2021 from MCD books.

Poetry: Faylita Hicks
Faylita Hicks (pronouns: she/her/they) is a Black queer writer and the Editor of Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review. She is a 2019 Lambda Literary Fellow, a 2019 Jack Jones Literary Arts “Culture, Too” Fellow, and a 2020 Right of Return Fellow. She was a finalist in the 2018 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, the 2018 Cosmonauts Avenue Annual Poetry Prize and Palette Poetry’s 2019 Spotlight Award. Her collection HoodWitch (Acre Books, 2019) is a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Annual Award and is now available.

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

Notes on each category:

  • In nonfiction, we are looking for work from DMV-based writers.  All submissions should be from writers with a connection to the DC/Maryland/Virginia area.  Our judge is particularly interested in hybrid work, so we have some genre flexibility in that regard.
  • In fiction, our judge is particularly interested in noir, speculative fiction, trope-subversion, and/or anarchist fiction.
  • In poetry, we have no additional notes or restrictions.

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 May 5th to June 5th 2020.
  • Each writer may only submit one entry per category.
  • Your manuscript should be in a standard font, size 12. 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)
  • We will be accepting simultaneously submitted work. All semi-finalists will be required to remove their work from simultaneous review upon notification.
  • We expect to announce the semifinalists in late June.  Winners will be announced in July. Publication will be in August.

Entries must be submitted no earlier than May 5th, 2020 and no later than June 5th, 2020. The submission window closes at 11:59pm EST on the 5th.

Submit all entries via this submission form.  Queries can be made to  outwritecontest@gmail.com. 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. The 20120 festival will kick off on Friday, July 31. On Saturday, August 1st, there will be a full day of readings, panels, book sales, and exhibitors. To finish the weekend, a number of writing workshops will be held on Sunday, August 2nd.  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.

DC Center – Closed Effective 3/16/20

Image of the Coronavirus and the works COVID-19

Taking guidance and recommendations about social distancing from the DC government and the CDC, effective Monday, March 16th, The DC Center for the LGBT Community’s office will be closed. Staff are still working remotely, and will be checking emails and voicemails multiple times each day. Please reach out to supportdesk@thedccenter.org to connect with the DC Center, as we are still able to provide services and support.

If you are interested in attending support groups remotely, please reach out to your facilitator or supportdesk@thedccenter.org and we can provide options for remote meetings using conference lines.

The situation is changing rapidly, please refer to the CDC’s website and coronavirus.dc.gov for up-to-date information on what you can do to help prevent and slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

The DC Center team will be meeting regularly to assess the situation and rest assured that we will open as soon as it is safe to do so, as we know that many of our clients and participants are vulnerable and will need support. If you are able, please consider donating and supporting organizations that provide food, medicine, and other support to marginalized populations. 

 

If you are facing a life threatening situation or seeking immediate care:

DC Mobile Crisis: 202-673-9300
DC Shelter Hotline: 202.399.7093 or 311
Maryland Mobile Crisis: 240-777-4000
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
LGBTQ under 25: Trevor Lifeline: 866-488-7386
LGBTQ National Help Center (all ages – various lines/hours): 888-843-4564 www.glbthotline.org

 

Submissions Open for OutWrite’s 2019 Chapbook Competition

OutWrite Chapbook Contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 1, 2019
MEDIA CONTACTS:
dave ring, OutWrite Chair
outwritedc@gmail.com

 

Submissions Opened for OutWrite’s 2019 Chapbook Competition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — OutWrite is pleased to announce its first Chapbook Competition, running from April 1st to May 25th, 2019.  The winning chapbooks will be published the first weekend of August 2019, to coincide with the 2019 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, and an opportunity to read from their work at OutWrite 2019 on Saturday, August 3rd.

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

NONFICTION: Kristen Arnett

Kristen Arnett is a queer fiction and essay writer. She won the 2017 Coil Book Award for her debut short fiction collection, Felt in the Jaw, and was awarded Ninth Letter’s 2015 Literary Award in Fiction. She’s a bimonthly columnist for Literary Hub and her work has appeared at North American Review, The Normal School, Gulf Coast, TriQuarterly, Guernica, PBS Newshour, McSweeneys, Electric Literature, Bennington Review, Salon, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her debut novel, Mostly Dead Things, will be published by Tin House Books in June 2019. You can find her on twitter here: @Kristen_Arnett.

FICTION: JY Yang

JY Yang is the author of the Tensorate series of novellas from Tor.Com Publishing (The Red Threads of Fortune, The Black Tides of Heaven, The Descent of Monsters and The Ascent to Godhood). Their work has been shortlisted for the Hugo, Nebula, Lambda Literary and World Fantasy Awards, while their short fiction has been published in over a dozen venues, including Tor.com, Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, and Strange Horizons.  JY is queer, non-binary, and lives in Singapore. Find them online on Twitter: @halleluyang.

POETRY: Wo Chan

Wo Chan is a queer poet and drag performer living in Brooklyn. They are the author of the chaplet ORDER THE WORLD, MOM (Belladonna), and has received fellowships from the New York Foundation of the Arts, Kundiman, Lambda Literary, and the Asian American Writers Workshop. Wo is standing member of the Brooklyn-based drag/burlesque collective Switch N’ Play, and has performed at venues including The Whitney, MOMA PS1, Joe’s Pub, National Sawdust, New York Live Arts, and the Brooklyn Museum. Wo was born in Macau, China. Check them out @theillustriouspearl.

There is a $5 entry fee, which can be paid through OutWrite’s website.

Please follow these guidelines in preparing your submission:

  • Chapbooks may be submitted in three categories:  fiction, nonfiction & poetry.
  • We 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.
  • Manuscripts can be collections as well as single pieces.
  • Submissions are open from April 1st to May 25th 2019.
  • Each writer may only submit one entry per category.
  • There is a $5 reading fee.  If the fee for entering is an economic hardship, please contact us at outwritedc@gmail.com.  A limited number of entry fees have been sponsored by donations.
  • Your manuscript should be in a standard font, size 12. Please single-space poetry and double-space prose. 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 may be previously published (as long as relevant rights have reverted)
  • We will be accepting simultaneously submitted work. All semi-finalists will be required to remove their work from simultaneous review upon notification.
  • We expect to announce the semifinalists in June.  Winners will be announced in July. Publication will be at OutWrite, August 2-4 2019.

Entries must be submitted no earlier than April 1st, 2019 and no later than May 25, 2019. The submission window closes at midnight EST.

Send all submissions to outwritecontest@gmail.com.

Each entry must include the following:

  • A subject line including your last name and the words ““<Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry> Submission: <Your Title> by <Your Name>.”
  • In the body of the email: the title of the collection; your name, your contact information (phone number and email address), and the PayPal Transaction ID for your entry fee.
  • It may also include a brief bio.

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. The 2019 festival will kick off on Friday, August 2nd. On Saturday, August 3rd, there will be a full day of readings, panels, book sales, and exhibitors. To finish the weekend, a number of writing workshops will be held on Sunday, August 4th.  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.