Whether explicitly or implicitly, trans people often feel pressure to uphold certain narratives or political stances, to make more streamlined and digestible our goals, views, and intentions. With this call, TransAction invites submissions of art and writing by trans identified people (see a longer definition of this below) that complicates the dominant narratives and perceived truths of experience. “What I Say When I Say What I Shouldn’t” aims to be a space for trans people to opt out of the political/social pressure to be intelligible and knowable to people outside of the trans community as a way of creating room to dig into the complicated questions we often stay silent about.

Who:

Any and all trans people. Trans in this case may refer to (but is not limited to) categories such as transgender, transexual, transwoman, transman, gender nonconforming, gender non-binary, genderqueer, agender, and other gender identities and expressions which lay outside of western/colonial constructs of gender. Further, TransAction encourages submissions from people across all ages, levels of education, nationalities, races, and classes.

What:

For works of art, all formats will be considered however, submissions that lend themselves to 1 or 2 color printing and submissions that lend themselves to being printed at sizes 8” x 10” or smaller will be easier to accommodate. Formats could include but are not limited to: drawings/paintings, graphic designs, comics, photographs, and video stills. For writing, all formats will be considered however works below 2000 words are preferred. Further, TransAction encourages submissions of any format but is particularly interested in any of the following: poetry, experimental fiction and nonfiction, text art, fragments/excerpts of longer pieces, sections of previously published works you wish to see recontextualized and other non-traditional writing formats. (Artists and authors chosen will give permission for TransAction to publish their work but will retain ownership and publishing rights to all accepted work.)

When:

The open call will end on January 31st (1/31/20) at 11:59 PM. The project will be published in Spring/Summer 2020.

Where:

Works can be submitted through the following online form: LINK this form can also be found on the TransAction project page: https://www.chelseathompto.com

TransAction is funded in part by GameTime Grants Grand Rapids