Call for Submissions: Women Write Resistance

Deadline: September 30, 2012
Poetry

Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Blue Light Press, 2013), a new anthology of American poets, seeks poetry submissions to round out the collection. The poets in this anthology intervene in the ways violence against women is perceived in American culture by deploying techniques to challenge those narratives and make alternatives visible.

Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence views poetry as a transformative art. By deploying techniques to challenge narratives about violence against women and making alternatives to that violence visible, the American poets in Women Write Resistance intervene in the ways gender violence is perceived in American culture. A poem from a victim’s perspective, for example, might use explicit imagery but also show the emotional consequences often obscured when newspapers, video games, films, and television programs depict violence in superficial or sexualized ways. A poet might also critique dominant narratives, such as calling into question the perception that certain women deserved to be raped.

The introduction, which draws on the work of Tami Spry, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, and Chela Sandoval, frames the intellectual work behind the building of the anthology by describing how poets break silence, disrupt narratives, and use strategic anger to fight for change. Poetry of resistance distinguishes itself by a persuasive rhetoric that asks readers to act. The anthology’s stance believes poetry can compel action using both rhetoric and poetic techniques to motivate readers. In their deployment of these techniques, poets of resistance claim the power to name and talk about gender violence in and on their own terms. Indeed, these poets fight for change by revising justice and framing poetry as action.

Contributors include Kristin Abraham, Lana Hetchman Ayers, Wendy Barker, Ellen Bass, Grace Bauer, Kimberly L. Becker, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Shevaun Brannigan, Kristy Bowen, Joy Castro, Allison Hedge Coke, Sandi Day, Jehanne Dubrow, Rain C. Goméz, Judy Grahn, Nicole Hospital-Medina, Judy Juanita, Julie Kane, Susan Kelly-Dewitt, Paula Kolek, Alexis Krasilovsky, Lisa Lewis, Lyn Lifshin, Frannie Lindsay, Ellaraine Lockie, Alison Luterman, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, Leslie Adrienne Miller, Deborah A. Miranda, Linda McCarriston, Dawn McGuire, Sara Luise Newman, Cati Porter, Laura Van Prooyen, Natanya Ann Pulley, Carol Quinn, Lucinda Roy, Hilda Raz, Carly Sachs, Marjorie Saiser, Maureen Seaton, Kathleen Tyler, Davi Walders, Tana Jean Welch, Judy Wells, Rosemary Winslow, Karenne Wood, Andrena Zawinski, and many, many others.

Submit in one of two ways —
1) Preferred method: Submit 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of the email or as a doc to womenwriteresistance (at) gmail.com. Please also include a bio (50-100 words) and a mailing address.

2) Submit 1-3 previously published poems in the body of the email or as a doc to womenwriteresistance (at) gmail.com. Please also include the following: 1) the title of your poem; 2) the name of the book, journal, or anthology where it originally appeared; 3) the name of the press or journal who published it; 4) the year or issue it was published. Please double check to make sure that you as the author retain the rights to this poem(s) or that it can be reprinted at no cost other than acknowledgement to the original source. Please also include a bio (50-100 words) and a mailing address.

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