This weekend, we were thrilled to announce our call for submissions for a new anthology: Upstaged: queer women in performing arts. This is a project close to my heart as someone who has been on stage as a symphony violinist for the majority of my life and with two children in the arts.
The idea was born after a friend had the opportunity to appear in The Vagina Monologues. As a result, she created a survey to collect the stories of trans and non-binary people's experiences (which you can take here if it applies to you).
Queer women are underrepresented in performing arts. In some cases, women in general are scarce, such as orchestral conducting. Even though theater continues to be stereotyped as "gay," homophobia is still an issue, and LGBTQ+ music, theater, and dance troupes tend to be underfunded. Erasure of queer women is all too common.
The same is true in fiction. I've read a lifetime's worth of stories about men falling in love during an all-male Shakespeare revival or getting it on with hot cast mates at summer stock or having a secret fling with a band mate. Despite the fact that it doesn't reflect reality, the image of the beautiful, femme, gay male ballet dancer is persistent. Where's the variety? And where are all the women?
In spite of this, queer women in real life continue to kick ass. Singers and pop stars had tremendous accomplishments last year. Queer women and non-binary people (especially people of color) have used their art as a platform for their activism.
These are stories worth telling; thus an anthology was born.
If you're interested in submitting a story, we'd love to have it. We're looking for writers who can think outside the box. We love musical theater and rock bands, but we also want your choral conductors and your world-renowned bassoon players and your jazz dancers. Send us your slam poets and your comedians, your circus acts and your burlesque performers. Genre is wide open, including historical and speculative fiction. All women are welcome: lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, transgender, intersex, queer.
Entries will be evaluated for inclusion based on originality of idea; quality of writing; and whether or not it meets the submission requirements. Deadline is April 1, so get to work!