What’s new this month:
Enjoy!
Kicked Out
Edited by: Sassafras Lowrey*
Publisher: Homofactus Press
Deadline: March 1, 2008
Kicked Out is an anthology, which chronicles the experiences of former queer youth and current queer youth who were forced to leave home as minors because of their sexuality and/or gender identity. Kicked Out tells our collective stories of survival, weaving together descriptions of abuse, and homelessness with poignant accounts of the ways in which the queer community offered sanctuary, and the power and importance of creating our own chosen families etc. Kicked Out offers advice and wisdom to the queer youth of today from former queer youth who have survived. Additionally, it provides the opportunity for readers to get a glimpse into the world of those queer youth who as a result of circumstance have had to leave home, while simultaneously shattering the stereotypes of who queer youth are, and what they have the potential to become.
Kicked Out showcases stories of overcoming obstacles, and not simply surviving but thriving in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity. Kicked Out will explore the diversity of our experiences across lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and geographic region celebrating our differences, and showcases the ways in which they have contributed to our unique experiences.
Possible topics include but are not limited to:
• How being forced to leave home as a minor continues to impact your adult life
• What happened to you when you left home and how you survived
• Words of wisdom for today’s homeless queer youth—what you wished someone had told you
• Survival through the creation of “chosen family”
• Challenges of dealing with CPS or other agencies
• Success through adversity- overcoming a troubled past
Submissions should be between 1,500 and 2,500 words in length and previously unpublished. Submit your piece via e-mail in .doc format to KickedOutAntholog@gmail.com. Multiple submissions per contributor are welcome. Please include a short biography and contact information with your submission. Submissions must be received no later than March 1, 2008; contributors are encouraged to submit early. Rights revert to the authors upon publication. Contributors whose work appears in the anthology will receive TBA free copy(ies) as well as ongoing royalties.
For more information check us out online at: http://www.myspace.com/kickedoutanthology
**Sassafras Lowrey is a high femme writer, artist, and activist. Ze was forced to leave home as a teenager after suffering physical violence after coming out as queer. Sassafras found hir way to queer youth organizations and movements, which quite literally saved hir life. As an adult ze has never forgotten the impact those groups had on hir life and has volunteered regularly with the queer youth of today. Sassafras lives with hir partner, two cats and a dog in New York City. Hir first book “GSA to Marriage: Stories of a Life Lived Queerly” is scheduled for release Summer 2008.
Tongues Afire Creative Writing Workshop Reading.
Thursday, December 13th @ 7 pm
Audre Lorde Project
85 So. Oxford Street
Brooklyn, NY
Questions? Please email tonguesafire@gmail.com or 347.451.0077.
Tongues Afire Creative Writing Workshop Reading
Saturday, December 8th @ 7 pm
Common Grounds
376 Tompkins Avenue (nr. Putnam Avenue)
Brooklyn, NY
Questions? Please email tonguesafire@
Hip Hop’s Hold on Young People:
A Conversation with Melina Abdullah and Joan Morgan
Thursday, November 8 at 6:30 pm
Golden Eagle Ballroom, 3rd floor, Golden Eagle Building
California State University, Los Angeles
Addressing the complexities of young people’s engagement with hip hop, this conversation explores the impact of hip hop on youth, people of color, women, and conceptions of love and romance. Conversation led by Dr. Melina Abdullah, Pan African Studies at Cal State L.A., and Joan Morgan, author, When Chickenheads Come Home To Roost.
Event is free. Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests. For more information, contact the Cal State L.A. Cross Cultural Centers at (323) 343-5001 or the Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities at (323) 343-6549.
Fiona Zedde: Every Dark Desire
Monday, November 5 at 6 pm
University Bookstore, 1st floor, Golden Eagle Building
California State University, Los Angeles
Fiona Zedde’s novels explore the lives of black women, sexuality, erotica, and romance. Her novels include BLISS and A TASTE OF SIN. Her latest, EVERY DARK DESIRE, continues the tradition with a twist – venturing into the world of vampires. Join us as Fiona reads from and signs her books.
Event is free. Nominal parking fee for off-campus guests. For more information, contact the Cross Cultural Centers at Cal State L.A. at (323) 343-5001.
Jolie du Pre signs copies of Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica at Da Book Joint.
Da Book Joint
http://dabookjoint.com/default.aspx
9527 S. Jeffery Ave
Chicago, Illinois 60617
773-978-3555
Saturday, November 3, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Da Book Joint was built on a dream and a need for an African-American owned and operated, African-American author based bookstore on the Southeast side of Chicago. The owners, Verlean Singletary and Alecia “Lesa” Beckom, are both avid readers with five years of operating a bookstore and fifteen years of accounting/tax experience between the both of them. They are also participants of various bookclubs — always keeping abreast of new and upcoming books and authors.
Read the first 3 chapters here.
Nghosi Books’ Call for Submissions: Anthology 2009
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
BLACK LESBIAN EROTIC ANTHOLOGY
I Love You To Death: Black Lesbian Diaries
Edited by Shonia L. Brown
Nghosi Books brings you its deadliest and most tantalizing tales of black lesbian erotica in the form of diaries from lesbians who won’t take no for an answer. Have you ever had a one night stand that you wished you hadn’t? Or what about the woman that you know loves you if she would just give in to her hidden desires? Do you find yourself looking over your shoulders after inhaling a scent of her hypnotic perfume? And try as you might, because you know you shouldn’t, you fantasize and might just a little, desire this strange but sexy lesbian whose favorite lyrics are, “If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right!”
Do you have a tale of obsessive passion and/or borderline stalker story in you, written as if it were from a page of your very own private diary? Then join the talented new writers from Nghosi Books with our second edition from the New Voices Series of our small print press with the upcoming release of “I Love You to Death: Black Lesbian Diaries”. This anthology will be published in late 2009, but we are currently accepting submissions starting on October 31, 2007 until October 31, 2008.
Specifications:
Stories should be no more than 4,000 words. Be as sexy, sensual, even explicit as you like, but no porn. No underage or non-consensual encounters, no animals, etc. Previously unpublished material is preferred, but excerpts from published work are also acceptable. In the case of previously published work, you must have the reprint rights. (Indicate where and when published, plus rights status. This means full disclosure of publishing history.)
Submission requirements:
Submit stories in typewritten hard copy only, double-spaced. Manuscripts not chosen will be discarded, so do not send your only copy. Include with your submission a brief author bio and your e-mail address. No e-mail submissions, please. For additional information, contact:
Nghosi Books at nghosi@bellsouth.net with the Subject heading of: Nghosi Books Anthology 2009.
Mail submissions to:
Nghosi Books
Attn: NBANTHOLOGY2009
P.O. Box 1908
Stone Mountain, GA 30086
Submission deadline: October 31, 2008
Compensation: Two copies of the published anthology.
