KEEP YOUR WIVES AWAY FROM THEM:
AN ANTHOLOGY OF WRITINGS BY AND ABOUT ORTHODYKES
Deadline: July 31, 2008
Jewish women who are bisexual, transgender, lesbian or queer-identified live
lives that can often be fraught with discord. But they have also mined the
complexities and contradictions that come with these identities as sources
for spiritual change, ritual innovation and community building. Keep Your
Wives Away From Them is an anthology of professional scholarly essays and
personal journalistic pieces that will document the stories of those who
have lived in the meeting-ground of Judaism and queer desire. This
anthology, in calling attention to an otherwise hidden or silent population
of women, will unravel the puzzle of a seemingly impossible identity. It
will also document the rich innovations in Jewish and queer life in the
communities of Jewish LBTQ women and female born genderqueer individuals
that have developed in around the world over the past 25 years.
Some topics KYW will address:
Life as a LBTQ person: What are the dilemmas and difficult elements of
maintaining simultaneously and LBTQ identity? What are the joys and
triumphs?
Family Ties: Personal stories may describe shifting filial or sibling
relationships and severed or renewed family ties.
Community: Have traditional communities integrated LBTQ women into their
midst? What rules must be followed to blend in?
Trans/intersex experiences: What are the challenges of being
trans/intersex/genderqueer in the religious world and what resources are
there for dealing with them? How do trans people adapt or relate to Jewish
law, which so rigidly distinguishes between male and female obligations?
Ritual and Jewish Law: Often discussions of “homosexuality and Judaism” are
focused exclusively on men. What are the sources of Jewish law, ritual, and
halakah for interpreting classical Jewish teaching on lesbianism?
Requirements for submission:
. The essays in KYW will reflect a multitude of experience and contexts.
Essays may draw upon personal experience or may be academic/scholarly in
nature; literary non-fiction is also welcome. No poetry or fiction.
. Submissions must be carefully written and edited; personal pieces must
be strong in narrative drive, dialogue, and tell a compelling story.
Accepted submissions will reflect a diversity of experiences (class, culture
and cultural setting, religious belief, educational background, geography,
ethnicity, generation, and marital status).
. Essays should be 5-15 pages in length and must include a bio and CV.
Must be in Microsoft Word file; double spaced, with margins of an inch on
either side; one-inch indent for paragraphs, with footnotes as appropriate.
. If a submission has appeared previously in another publication, the
author must obtain permission for reprint and pay any permission fees. The
best twenty pieces will be picked and published in KYW by North Atlantic
Books and distributed by Random House. Each accepted contributor will
receive two copies of the book. Essays should be submitted as soon as
possible and no later than July 31, 2008.
. Authors may publish under a pseudonym.
. Essays, short bios, and accompanying CV should be sent to Miryam
Kabakov at Ke***********@gm***.com.
About the editor: Miryam Kabakov, LMSW has been a builder, participant and
beneficiary of Orthodyke communities in New York, Jerusalem and Berkeley and
an activist in the Jewish LGBTQ world. As a young woman she first read
Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence and made a non-binding vow to break silence
for yeshiva girls everywhere.
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