Washington State Arts Commission
Deadline: 12/19/2023
Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True will accept submissions for a Queer Poetry Anthology starting October 2. Arianne invites poets of all skill levels to submit entries!
As part of Arianne True’s term as the Washington State Poet Laureate, they are putting together an anthology of poems from queer writers of all stripes across the state. This call is for people trying out poetry for the first time, as well as regular writers and widely published poets. It will include work by folks across spectrums of sexual orientation, gender, and sexuality in general (ace/aro family), and from across the full breadth of our state.
Poems can be on any topic. This anthology takes the stance that all art made by queer artists is queer art, whether it draws explicit attention to an identity or not. Send love poems, the poem you wrote on the bus or in the park, poems where you wrestle with yourself, poems where you love existing, poems that take a metaphor and run with it, tribute poems, grief poems, ecstatic poems, sleepy poems, poems that barely know what they are or what they’re becoming. Traditional and experimental work are both welcomed.
The final anthology will be published online and made available as a free resource. Poems will be organized in a tagged and searchable format (like a database), making sure the tags are correct to the poem and its author. There is no payment available but chosen writers will appear in a publicized, widely available anthology and may get opportunities for readings and events following the anthology’s launch.
Questions? Contact Britt Madsen, Washington Poet Laureate Program Specialist, britt.madsen@arts.wa.gov