Kuma2.net Blog

Kuma has been updated for January 2008. This month we have:

• Cherry’s Grove has been revamped — and a new audio has been added. literature section
• 28 New Poems and 7 New Stories in the literature section
• 3 New Poems and 1 New Story/Prose Piece In OtherWords
• A New Poll with comments open – we want to hear from you!
• More (and upcoming) News and Views from SkyeView

Of course, Kuma is always looking for new submissions.

Enjoy!

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Feel Free to add a comment. What does taking it slow mean to you?

* Thinking of joining a nunnery?
* Feeling asexual and just want to cuddle?
* Swinging and loving it?

We want to see/hear/read your stories! Audio stories are great, too. CDs may accompany the anthology.

Send your creations to the forthcoming anthology:

Desire: A Girl’s Guide to Dreaming – Queer Women of Color Writing Critically on the Erotic (working title)

///Introduction

‘Imagine weaving a lamentation into something whole, bigger than itself, more healed than the song.’

We invite people to share their experiences and thoughts on sex, lust, love, relationship, desire, the erotic, being stone, being
poly. How do you envision, enact, do sex? And not. This anthology is about opening up language, story, healing.

Is it okay to ask your queer of color fam to cuddle, without it being sexual? What does it mean to touch and connect with
people without wanting sex, without it being sexual? What is erotic? How is it lived by queer women of color?

If people are looking for liberation in their bodies, in their shared connection with people, what does that look like? What does queer sex feel like, taste like, dream like? What if you could dream your way out of survivor, into thriving, into living and creating intentional relationships that heal, rather than sting, love and push through all the bifurcations of our lived lives.

How do you touch your way out of colonization, how do touching and connection become a way of resisting colonization and objectification, and healing from rape, assault, sexual abuse, physical abuse? What language is used? What words are created?

When we are in desire, the articulation of the possible, how do we free ourselves, how are we already free where we see
traps? Where are you, finally, free? In desire, are you free?

A sense of humor is a must in all relationships; we seek levity and gravity, fun, light energy that is also deep, connected, and
profound. Funny stories, essays, and work with a twist all welcome.

This anthology is born in the spirit of Audre Lorde’s definition of the erotic:

‘The erotic functions for me in several ways, and the first is in providing the power which comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person. The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.’

///Where to send the beautiful words, art, funny anecdotes, poetry, images, stills of performances?

Please e-mail desireanthology@yahoo.com with your brilliance. The deadline for sending work is 1 March 2008. If you desire a land address for mailing work, contact us at the above e-mail address.

We look forward to hearing from you, Pak Soo Na and Sherisse Alvarez

SCREW VALENTINE’S DAY!

Still ain’t found that love of your life?
Or maybe they turned out to be a big fat loser, who liquidated the contents of your bank account, stole your dog,
and wrecked your car!

Come tell us all about it.

And for all those still in love.
Found someone to drink your bath water.
Reading this email from Paris
where your honey took you for the THIRD time
– no expense spared!

Come on out and have a giggle
or a play by play
of what it looks like when it goes terribly wrong
and that credit card that paid for Paris
is actually in your name!

12 Poets
2 Rounds
$150.00 Grand Prize!
$50.00 Runner-up

Hosted by:
Michelle Sewell
JScales

Contact Michelle if you are interested in slamming
michelleinbold@aol.com
no love poems!

Mothertongue Annual Anti-Valentine’s Day Slam
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Black Cat
1811 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC
Doors open at 8:30pm

Watch This

black./womyn.:conversations… is a feature-length documentary focusing on the lives and views of lesbians of African descent living in the United States. It features candid interviews with black lesbian women discussing coming out, sexuality and religion, love and relationships, marriage, patriarchy, visibility in media, discrimination and homophobia, activism, gender identity, Black lesbian youth and elders, balancing gender/race/sexuality, and, finally, what it means to call oneself a Black lesbian today.

Watch More Clips at the director’s YouTube Page or her blog. It’s even on MySpace.

Oh yeah, spread the word. 🙂

I have no words of wisdom, but what Darryl Stephens said sounds nice:

there is always that moment when the world around us slows down and the universe pauses to give us that moment to consider the possible ramifications of the choice we are about to make. this year, i want to encourage all of my friends to really take advantage of that moment . . . 

Read the whole entry.

Second Person Queer
How We Lived Our Lives and How You Can Live Yours
Edited by Richard Labont and Lawrence Schimel
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Deadline: March 15, 2008

Seeking short, informed essays preferably between 1,000-2,000 words written in the second person (addressed to a “you”) for an anthology of life advice from the GLBT community to the GLBT community.

Contributors are invited to approach the book in two ways:

1) “How-to” essays, which should be instructive in nature and have a title that begins “How To.” No topic is out of bounds as long as it imparts a useful queer lesson to others. The essays can be profound or practical or humorous or heart-rending – or a blend of styles – but must be written in the second person (addressed to a “you”).

2) Open Letters. Write a letter to someone specific – whether a public persona (celebrity, politician, author, etc.) or someone drawn from your personal life (a teacher, a relative, a neighbour, whoever) – in which you either offer advice or thank them for things you learned from them (their example). Willing to consider will be open letters to a child (relative, child of queer
parents, etc.) whose sexuality is not yet defined, and to whom one is offering advice on how to deal with the pressures of heteronormative society while growing up. Note, however, that only one or two such pieces will be included in the book, so your chances of publication increase tremendously if you choose a more original subject.

Submission instructions:

1) Title the file with author’s last name and story title in the file name:
Surname-Title.doc (Do not simply title your piece SecondPersonQueer.com, at least not the version you submit to us.)
2) Include your name, your mailing address, your email address, and a bio WITHIN the .doc file with your piece, as submissions will be separated from emails to be read.
3) Submit your work by email, as an attachment in .doc format, to: secondpersonqueer-at-gmail.com

Payment: A small honorarium and one copy of the book will be paid. (Please note that payment is in Canadian funds.)

As an anthology for a Canadian publisher, preference will be given to submissions from Canadian writers. But the anthology is open to submissions from all writers, and is actively interested in non-North American writers.

First, watch this trailer:

Then, watch this:

Now, visit http://www.dontgotheseries.com, get your fill of eye candy, and–if you can help–let them know. If you can’t, spread the word.

Extra Bonus – Surf on over to Myne Myc to hear an interview with Amber Sharp (series creator) and members of the cast.

From January 9 – 13, 2008
the Lark will present a BareBones® production of…
she like girls
by Chisa Hutchinson

Triggered by the 2003 murder of a Newark, NJ teenager, Chisa Hutchinson’s She Like Girls is the story of two inner-city high school girls who fall in love in a dangerously homophobic climate.

MORE ABOUT THE PLAY, FROM CHISA…

“The play isn’t about murder…it’s more about the urban community, the urban family, and how they respond to homosexuality.”

“If I sit through two hours of a middle-aged white guy having an existential crisis or and well-off white chicks debating the merits of marriage, then why not expose the white folks to the plight of poor Kia Clark, lesbian teenager fighting against the doubly oppressive forces of the inner-city? Everyone deserves validation. ”

WHAT DO YOU HOPE AUDIENCES WALK AWAY WITH?
“Two things: a sense of parallels and a heightened awareness. “The idea of them marrying is ridiculous.” “Their souls are damned, if they have souls at all.” Gee, that sounds familiar. If people didn’t question the validity of those types of assertions, then folks like me might still have to jump brooms and ride them all the way to hell or limbo or wherever it is that white people thought the pseudo-souls of black people ended up back then. And the fact that gays are being excluded, harassed, and murdered by a group of people still reeling from the effects of having others do those very things to them? The irony is just too much. My theory is that there are only a handful of really toxic, really vocal haters, and pretty much everybody else is neutral…and [they] need to hear a voice of love and acceptance every now and then or else they’ll just habituate the hate. Or worse. They succumb to the toxicity and join in. And wouldn’t that be a waste? ”

* * * *
Tickets: $15 ($10 student)
www.larktheatre.org

or call 212-352-3101

group discounts available by calling 212-246-2676 x24

January 9 – 12 (8pm)
January 12 – 13 (2pm)

@ Lark Studio
939 Eighth Avenue , 2nd Floor (bet 55th – 56th Streets)
A,B,C,D,1 to Columbus Circle
N,Q, R, W to 57th Street
www.larktheatre.org

Whether you write poems, stories, essays, fiction, nonfiction or whatever tickles your fancy, make 2008 the year you submit.

Need help with that story? Check out our Writer’s Resources.

Call For Submissions	Deadline
Kuma Guidelines	None
Crooked Letter I	Feb 15, 2008
Kicked Out	March 1, 2008
None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa	March 31, 2008
Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows Of The Closet	May 15, 2008 (for queries)
I Love You To Death: Black Lesbian Diaries	Oct. 31, 2008