POLARI [I]: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Are you a UK-based LGBTQ+ illustrator, writer, photographer, playwright, poet or artist?

POLARI PRESS, the UK’s only queer publishing house dedicated to LGBTQ+ writing, is now accepting submissions for a new queer zine, POLARI [I], launching this February. This zine will be published triannually, profiling the work of queer folks traditionally erased or excluded from mainstream commodified LGBTQ+ culture. It will cross borders, class divides, neurodivergences, generational tides and spectrums of [dis]abilities, and seek to unfetter the verb ‘to queer’ to encompass the political and social upheaval necessary for the sexy envelopment of all that is left outside of the cis-heteronormative construct. 

Our first issue will be focussing on our ‘Yesterday’, meaning we will be exploring the unrecorded and underrepresented LGBTQ+ folks in all corners of UK history, specifically drawing on archival documents from the past 100 years. 

We assert that the cis-heteronormative world needs to see and acknowledge that queer people are not new, a trend, or a vehicle for reaching a target market, and we want you to help us. Your work will be showcased alongside the three historical pieces we’ve liberated (legally, we promise) from a variety of London archives (posted on our website [https://polaripress.cargo.site/POLARI-I] as HISTORICAL TEXTS // ). Use these as inspiration, aggravation or send us something totally different, we’re excited to see what you come up with. Your work will accompany the output from creative writing workshops that POLARI will be running in the community.

This is a non-profit entity, which will be distributed and shared at POLARI’s launch event at the end of February. The aim of this zine is to reach into dusty cobwebbed corners and overlooked crannies and bring out the rants, fantasies, sermons and manifestos of the queers that don’t fit in. It will never be for-profit, and we will strive to make it as accessible as humanly possible to as many of you as we can. 

To apply, send (a few of) your piece(s) to [polaripress@outlook.com] with a short bio and contact details by 31 JANUARY, 2020. 

If you would like to discuss work that requires a different format (e.g. performance, video), please get in touch and we will figure it out together. 

We will review submissions and aim to profile as many as possible, and we might get in touch to have a barney about your work if we have any questions or want to know more about you. All folks who submit will be invited guests of POLARI at our launch event in February, in recognition of your work. 


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