NEW LGBTI AFRICAN POETRY ANTHOLOGY
Submission Deadline - March 3, 2013
About the Anthology
Many African countries consider homosexuality immoral.
In some, homosexuals are subjected to corporal punishment, imprisonment, or death, simply because of their sexual orientation. These hateful acts are further galvanized by such slogans as “to be homosexual is un-African.” With this anthology, we reject this slogan and all acts of aggression against members of LGBT communities in Africa.
“We maintain that to be homosexual is African.”
Read our full Statement of Purpose.
We are calling for poems by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals living in Africa and in the Diaspora. The poems may focus on loss, childhood, violence, food, discrimination, love, fruits, disease, migration, strife, etc. In other words, poems on any topic are welcome – and in any form. The only requirement is that each poem must be of high merit, and be previously unpublished.
If you’d like to submit your work, please read through the Submission Guidelines.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why poetry?
Poetry is one of the most powerful, subversive and accessible mediums of expression because it does not require that the writer conform to any conventions. Poetry gives the individual an ability to translate their being and understanding of Self to the reader in a way that conventional prose cannot. Its lack of rules is a source of freedom. A freedom that is critical for the representation of the plethora of Queer African lives and stories.
Will poets be compensated for their work?
A free copy of the anthology will serve as payment.
When will the anthology be published?
No date has been set yet as we are in the process of assembling and reading over submissions. However, poets whose works are accepted for publication will be notified of a possible publication date as soon as possible.
Can photographers, illustrators, and other visual artists submit?
Even though our primary focus is poetry, we will consider a few select high resolutionphotographs, illustrations, and other visual creative works for inclusion in this anthology. You may submit the file using the same naming convention i.e. Firstname_Lastname_[Title of Work] in PDF format.
Will the anthology be available in French or Portuguese?
We welcome publishers and other parties interested in translating the poems into French or Portuguese, subject to the terms and agreements of our publisher.