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.

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