Sunday 25 January 2009

< 5 weeks to deadline

Don't forget, boys and girls and everyone in between: You have until 28 February to submit stories or essays to Body 2 Body, Malaysia's first queer anthology!


I blogged the details right here. Klue magazine has been the only representative from the print media to give publicity to it, here. (Why the silence from everyone else?)

We have received 10 entries so far (but only 2 by women). This is not bad considering Malaysian anthologies tend to get a deluge only in the final month. I have hidden the authors' names and forwarded the entries to the two editors, so that they will not be biased.

We posted the Call for Entries on the forum of a website where the members often display only selected portions of their anatomy, and it received over a hundred responses. So to clarify some of the points that were raised on that forum, here is an...

FAQ !

1. Do I have to be queer to take part?
No. We will not check your credentials.

2. Would it help if I were queer?
No.

3. Would it help if I were a good writer?
Oh yes.

4. Is that the book cover?
No. It's a poster thingy we did for the Call for Entries.

5. Is obscenity acceptable?
As Nabokov once said (I am paraphrasing) in defence of Madame Bovary: "A work of art is never obscene."

6. Are there any other books of this sort?
Why, yes, but in other countries. You might wanna check out this Indonesian one:

But that only has fiction. We accept essays too.

7. Can I use a pseudonym to remain anonymous?
No.

8. Why not?
Because the photo-shoot on launch day will be a real bitch otherwise.

6 comments:

nanawrote said...

What if you're a Malaysian living overseas? Still eligible? Kan cannot come to photoshoot meh? Can use pseudonym one?

Ted Mahsun said...

The anonymous person could always come to the photoshoot with a paperbag on his/her head. Works every time!

Amir Muhammad said...

In these days of instant gratification, photo sessions can also include writers who are living overseas :-) And your profile pic is nice, share it with the world!

Amir Muhammad said...

Erm, my comment was for Jelonbelon.

Anyways, do check out the latest MPH anthology, "Urban Odysseys". The writers didn't use pseudonyms; strange as it may seem, they weren't ashamed of being associated with KL at all.

fadz said...

dulu aku ada tulis (dlm blog lama) satu esei(?) filem tentang penanda seksualiti dlm filem-filem Melayu, macam Celluloid Closet, tapi itu dalam B.Melayu, so aku tak jadi nak hantar..

Amir Muhammad said...

takpe. kalo ada sambutan kami akan buat versi BM nanti.