Chimera Chapbooks
Chimera
- a fabled fire-breathing monster of Greek mythology, with a lion's head, a goat's body, and serpent's tail (or according to others with the heads of a lion, a goat, and a serpent) killed by Bellerophon
- a grotesque monster, formed of the parts of various animals
- figurative with reference to the terrible character, the unreality, or the incongruous composition of the fabled monster
- an unreal creature of the imagination, a mere wild fancy; an unfounded conception
- an incongruous union or medley
Mission Statement:
The mission of the Chimera chapbook series is to publish writing in all genres which explores expansive and imaginative notions of trans masculinity and trans manhood. Each of our limited-edition chapbooks is letterpress printed from hand-set moveable type and bound by hand, a degree of painstaking care that the words of trans authors have too rarely received. The Chimera series welcomes submissions in all genres, including personal essays, poetry, fiction, and excellent scholarly work. We are generally not interested in straightforwardly confessional accounts of transition, preferring speculative, experimental, and complex work that speaks to gender, masculinity, and transformation in rich and unexpected ways.
While this series has been conceived as a forum for writing by and for trans men and transmasculine people, we have no formal guidelines around who can submit, and strive for a capacious notion of the transmasculine which can include butches, drag kings, passing women, genderqueer, non-binary, and two-spirit people, intersex individuals, and (trans-friendly) detransitioned trans people, among other identities. If you are interested in submitting work but unsure if it is right for our series, don't hesitate to reach out. Submissions can be sent via email to [email protected]. We commit to getting back to you within three months.
20% of profits from the sale of chapbooks in this series is donated to bklyn boihood, a grassroots organizations whose missions is to create spaces for masculine-of-center queer and trans people of color to cultivate stories, dreams, and creative work. The other 80% will be dedicated to expanding our collection of type and printing machinery at Letter and Spirit Press, and to funding future volumes in the Chimera series.
We are currently open for submissions. After perusing the information below, please be encouraged to send your work to us at [email protected].
FAQ:
How long should my submission be?
Because we are letterpress-printing and hand-binding our chapbooks, our editorial decisions are limited by the sheer amount of type in our collection! We are looking for around 3-7 pages of prose or 5-15 poems depending on their length.
Does my submission need to be in English?
No! Letter and Spirit Press is deeply committed to linguistic diversity, and we encourage writers of all languages to submit to us. If your submission is not in English, please send us one or two paragraphs describing the piece. If we are interested, we will work with you to find a translator and publish a bilingual edition. We also welcome submissions of translations.
Can I submit visual art?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is that the kinds of visual materials we can include are limited by the letterpress process we are using. Line drawings and graphic art of one or two colors is welcome, but we do not have the ability to print photography or reproduce paintings.
Do you pay your authors?
We currently do not have the resources to pay our authors, however, you can choose to be compensated either by receiving half of the edition of 50 books, or splitting the total sales profits with Letter and Spirit Press, after the 20% donation to bklyn boihood. Authors can also choose to donate their cut to a trans organization of their choice.
How often will books be released?
We will aim to release at least one chapbook per year, but letterpress printing is a slow and demanding process. There are no guarantees!