Spoken Word Call for Submissions
Anything But Vanilla -- Vancouver BC, Canada
This is a call for
submissions for a live, in-person reading focussed on excellence, pacing, and smuttiness. This call for submissions is not for a book deal... yet. We foresee pitching Anything But Vanilla as a "best of" book deal after a minimum of three semi-annual events. But for now, be a part of the Fall 2003 event they'll all be talking about-- juried (selected) by the editors Elaine Miller and 
.
If you are not willing to be in Vancouver, Canada in fall 2003 for a live reading of your work (if accepted), please do not tease us by sending us your work!
We are putting together a high calibre sex reading that is not a cabaret, my friends, but is steeped in the tradition of performance. We want the audience wet or hard by intermission, scandalized by the end, and playing or fucking by the time they get home. This is a paying gig that may go from "modest" to "quite nice, thank you", depending on the show's success. More detail$ as we acquire more venue info.
Writers must be available to speak (and read) on the phone with the editors, in the event their submissions are chosen for the initial round of written or recorded auditions, and writers must be available in Vancouver, Canada for the actual event, in Fall 2003 (tba). More details on the actual event below.
Topics:
Dyke, fag, gay, lesbian, genderqueer, homosex writings ... and anything but vanilla. Edgy is great. Hot and sudden, full-throated, throbbing, raw. Ring any bells? Prose, poetic prose, and poetry are perfectly acceptable. No bestiality, no sex with minors, no "soft unfolding pink petals", necrophilia only if it is tasteful.
No
VANILLA? What's
"vanilla"?:
Vanilla sex is sex without any
elements of powerplay, risk-taking, leather or
steel accessories, roleplay, extreme sensation (or pleasure-in-pain), props, or
costumes. Vanilla sex is the kind most folk consider "normal". We're not
knocking it; we just don't want it.
Still confused? Two dyke jocks
getting it on in the gym after hours may be hot, but it's still
vanilla. Two dyke jocks getting it on in the gym after hours, one of whom
has been tied to the weight bench with strips torn from her own shorts...
now that's getting there.
Timing:
Anything over 10 minutes reading time can not be considered (that's about 2000 words of prose read in a clear, storytelling fashion). Shorter work is fine.
Style Tips:
Stereotypes turn us off.
Archetypes, however, may be fine. Writing should be entirely to do with kink and homo-lust. Feel free to be experimental. We're loose about the format, because these are pieces meant to be read aloud, and we can feel free to break some of the stuffier rules of writing.
Submission
Formats:
Written submissions can be accepted in any format, except handwritten. Electronic submissions are welcome, and if you're not electronically-enabled, please send double-spaced, typewritten hardcopy by mail.
AUDIO
Recordings:
If
you do not feel
that words on a page give justice to your work (slam poetry, for instance), send your
submission as an audio recording of yourself reading or speaking your piece (a) on
cassette tape or CD by mail, or (b) by emailing us the URL of an MP3 (NOT
the actual MP3 in my email! O my aching Inbox!).
Deadline for initial submissions: May 15th, 2003
Please send us a short bio with your work, and don't forget to put your contact information on every page and within every attachment! If sending by regular mail, include a SASE if you want your work returned, or if you require correspondence by mail instead of by phone. Don't send us originals or only-copies. We're looking for original, unpublished work, but we'll consider already-published work if it's the right piece.
Electronic submissions
to:
inkysex@elainemiller.com
or Mail submissions
to:
Anything but Vanilla, 757 Union St.,
Vancouver, BC,
V6A 2C3
Queries?
Elaine
editor@elainemiller.com
or
River :
604-298-2924
The Editors:
River's Bio
River is a thirty something writer, actor, video maker, poly
dyke switch living in Vancouver, BC.
River worked for 2 years with coast 10 television doing all aspects
of productions on both sides of the camera, for pre-taped and live
cablecasts.
She won the UN Pavilion’s Messages of Peace contest at Expo 86 in the
audio/video category, and her documentary on First United church appeared
on Rogers Cable. Acting in numerous productions since the age of 10, she
graduated from SFU with a degree in Fine and Performing Arts in 1992.
Her multi-media play, A Thin Line, was accepted for production at the juried
“Vancouver Women in View” festival.
Her writings have appeared in, among other places, Hot and Bothered 2,
Hot and Bothered 3, Best Lesbian Erotica 2000, Fusion, Wild Child: Girlhoods
in the Counterculture and various issues of Diversity Magazine. She reads
at local events, has performed in live sex shows, and has even read on Iowa
public radio.
River pens plays, essays, fiction and poetic prose because she has to, and has been involved in the s/m community for the last 13 years because she wants to.
Elaine's Bio
Elaine is a friendly neighbourhood high femme dyke daddy who has been learning, playing, topping, teaching, and writing about BDSM and sex for over a decade. She does an embarrassing number of things for a living. (Teaching. Writing. Make-up. Web Designing. Web Hosting. Computer system balancing. Desktop Publishing)
Elaine has edited Lezzie SMUT! magazine, and edited and published Diversity Magazine from 1995 - 1999. Her written work has been anthologised in Brazen Femme, Tristan Taormino's Best Lesbian Erotica 2001 (co- edited by Pat Califia), Best Lesbian Erotica 1998 , Best of Best Lesbian Erotica, The No SafeWord Anthology, and has appeared in On Our Backs, Paramour, Anything That Moves, Xtra West, and several local newspapers. She writes a regular column in Xtra West called Slap and Tickle.
Elaine has appeared on many radio shows in Vancouver as a local sexpert, has performed in live queer women's sex shows (to rowdy audiences of 400--600 women), and does dragking performance. She occasionally organizes queer-only BDSM and sex parties, and hosts pangender queer smut readings. She has not been bored since puberty.
http://elainemiller.com/
Performance notes (to help you plan):
You don't have to memorize your piece, but we'd love it if you did. (for the show, not the telephone conversation with us)
You don't have to wear clothes on stage, but if you do we'd love it if they were sexy or stylin'.
We welcome writers with a range of experience from novice to well-published, since we're interested in the quality of your work, not your name or fame.
If we love your piece but you don't feel confident in your reading style, we would be happy to set up some coaching.
Performance technical
support notes:
There won't be much technical support, as
it's not a stage performance per se. Anything you do on stage is to
enhance your reading - but the reading's the thing.
Sound? We'll have a good microphone/sound set-up. We can't support any recorded soundtracks. We don't mind if you sing -- or hum a few bars and then Fake It.
Lighting? We'll set up good lighting to read by, and we'll try to make ourselves look attractive up there.
Special Effects? The lights go on, and they go off.
Props and Costumes? Any props must be able to be carried on and off stage by you in one trip. Clothes can be removed on stage, but there are no costume changes.
