From Michael Scott Monje, Jr. (Autonomous Press) and N.I. Nicholson (Barking Sycamores):
We are happy to announce that we are seeking submissions of poetry, fiction, and memoir for an upcoming collection called The Spoon Knife Anthology. This book will be released as one of the kickoff projects for AutPress’s NeuroQueer Books line, which focuses on neurodivergence and disability as they intersect and interact with queer issues. This includes queering disability and neurodivergence, as well as discussing how it functions or fits with other aspects of a queer identity.
For this inaugural anthology, NeuroQueer Books seeks to feature works that focus on consent and compliance. We are particularly interested in depictions of the ways that expectations for compliance can be frustrated or subverted, including but not limited to work that explores the various ways that neurodivergent and disabled individuals are forced to use misdirection, manipulation, or deception to avoid having their personal autonomy and dignity compromised by social forces that seek to dictate the expression of their identity and/or limit their choices.
In plainer language, we want stories, poems, and memoir pieces that focus on compliance, defiance, resistance, consent, and/or the negotiations that surround these aspects of any relationship. We are especially interested in works that complicate this issue by including other aspects of identity, such as sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnic identity, class, and/or gender.
While we will consider any submissions that are on-topic and we do wish to solicit voices from a broad range of neurodivergent and disabled perspectives, preference will be given to authors who clearly identify as neuroqueer and whose work demonstrates a neuroqueer point-of-view.
Length and Format:
Fiction and Memoir: 10,000 words or less of fully polished prose, submitted in standard manuscript format (title page with contact info, double-spaced Times New Roman 12 point font, pages numbered with either title or author’s name in the header).
Poetry: Up to 5 pieces of any length and style, provided they use the prompt above as a touchstone.
All submissions need to be in a Word-compatible format (.doc, .docx, .odt).
Deadline and Terms:
Submissions are due by Tuesday, September 8, 2015. Authors will be notified of their acceptance or rejection no later than November 15, 2015. Please include a cover letter that makes it clear exactly how you are to be credited—we will reproduce this exactly, including punctuation. We will also need a 3-4 sentence bio for the contributors.
Submission email: michael@autpress.com
Please put “Spoon Knife Anthology” and the genre (poetry, fiction, or memoir) in the subject to help us distinguish between anthology submissions and book proposals. Thank you!
UPDATE: The Spoon Knife Anthology is a funded anthology. This means that we will be paying for accepted submissions, but due to our funding model, we will not be able to announce the exact rate until the final day for submissions, Sept. 8. This is due to the fact that the funding for paying writers is contingent on sales from our current anthology, Typed Words, Loud Voices. You can read more about our anthology funding model here.