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Qi Writers Corner

Call For Submission (Update!) for The Queer Ink Anthology: Contemporary LGBT Stories of India

Queer Ink, India's first online bookstore for everything queer, invites you to submit to an exciting new anthology of diverse, contemporary LGBT/queer stories.

General submissions are now closed, but we are still seeking stories to round out the diversity of the anthology. We are interested in stories that include:

If you would like to submit in one of these categories, please follow the guidelines below exactly. Send us your story by April 30, 2011!

Building on the work of other groundbreaking historical anthologies, we are seeking dynamic stories of people living in India today who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, hijra, kothi, queer, genderqueer, or other gender-non-conforming identities.

Stories may be fiction or nonfiction. Writers may be of any gender identity as long as the story features a primary character who is queer. Rural or urban, gritty or sunny, Mills & Boon or Midnight's Children — all writing styles and experiences are invited. Diaspora writings are also welcome as long as there is a strong connection to India in the main character's life. Excerpts from longer works (novels, memoirs) are welcome but must be able to stand alone.

We will be seeking a mix of established and emerging writers. A panel of editors/curators led by Minal Hajratwala (award-winning author of Leaving India: My Family's Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents) will select the stories.

We welcome regional language submissions and, for selected stories, will work with authors and translators to create English versions. The anthology will be in English.

All accepted stories will go through a professional editing process in which writers will retain ultimate control of story content.

Writers will be paid 1,000 rupees per story plus two copies of the anthology.

How to Submit

Please email anthology@queer-ink.com no later than April 30, 2011, with the following:

• Your full story attached as a .doc, .rtf, or .pdf file.
• If the story you are submitting is not in English, please try to include a 200-word English description of your story, and tell us the language of the original story.
• Your name*
• Your pen name, for publication purposes, if different. (We welcome submissions by writers who prefer to use a different name in print. If your story is selected, we will need your real name for legal purposes, including copyright and payments. We will keep your name 100% confidential if you prefer.)
• Email address
• Phone number
• City, state, and country of current residence
• Brief biographical statement about you (1-2 sentences)
• Our strong editorial preference is for unpublished works, but we will consider stories that have been published in a very small circulation publication or website, or a non-English publication. Please disclose any prior publications in your email.

Guidelines for stories:

• Use a standard font, 12 point.
• Double-space.
• Include the word count of your story on the first page.
• On EVERY page, please include your name (or pen name), story title, and page number.
• Attach as a .doc, .rtf, or .pdf file. Other formats will not be opened. If your story is a visual narrative and you need to send us another format, please let us know at anthology@queer-ink.com .
• Suggested story length is 1,500 to 6,000 words. (You may submit shorter or longer; this is just a suggestion.)
• Multiple submissions (up to 3) are allowed, but only one story per author will be published. You may attach all the files to one email or send separate emails for each submission.

If you prefer to submit by mail, please send to: P.O Box 7623, Malad (W), Mumbai 400.064. Mailed submissions must be postmarked by April 30, 2011.

We will respond to all submissions within 30 days.