Call for Submissions: Issue 8 and 9 of Bolt Magazine, the Magazine for Bisexual, Lesbian and Trans Women in Ireland

Deadline: 11 May 2011 (issue 8), 13 July 2011 (issue 9)

BoLT Issue 8 and 9 Call for Submissions

Issue 8: The International Issue

Issue 9: The Local Issue

BoLT magazine has always been proud of trying to expand, to look past horizons and leap over barriers. So far, we have focused on our Irish LGBTQ community, and most of our pieces have been from people living on the island of Ireland. For issue 8 we have decided to spread our wings and ask for submissions from people living around the world who have an Irish connection. We would particularly welcome submissions on experiences of Irish people living abroad or travelling, as well as LGBTQ or women’s activism across the world. Whether you have a story that you would like to share, an opinion piece or a profile of an exciting project that you have been involved with we would be delighted to hear about it.


And with Issue 9, we intend to bring the focus back to our communities in Ireland, giving special priority to people outside the well-documented, resource-rich urban areas of Ireland. We are looking for people to talk about what it is like to be LGBTQ in their local region, their town, village or county. Is there a difference between your experiences in rural and urban areas in Ireland? Are some areas more supportive of LGBT lives? What does 'local' mean to you? We know that there are diverse experiences of coming out, creating families and building lives, and we want to hear about them. We would particularly welcome submissions from women and trans masculine spectrum people in rural areas. If you are a group that provides services to local LGBTQ women or trans masculine people in rural communities in Ireland, we would love to profile you and work together to increase the visibility of LGBTQ people outside the big cities.

We would like to call for submissions for both our eighth and ninth issues to highlight the diversity of our LGBTQ women's community at home and abroad. As always, we also encourage you to write about other pressing issues you feel you'd like to write about. And if you want to become a regular writer, talk to us about that! We are always looking for people to come onboard!

The deadline for submissions for issue 8 is May 11th , 2011 and for issue 9 is July 13th.

Written submissions can be stories, poetry, opinion pieces, book/film/music reviews and interviews. Written submissions should be no longer than 1500 words. For written submissions, please contact us at editor@boltmagazine.ie

More information here.

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Call for Submissions: BoLT Issue 6 (BoLT - magazine by and for Irish LGBTQ women)

Here at BoLT magazine, we like to think of ourselves as a malleable, complex publication which is open to challenging our own preconceptions. It is with this in mind that we are announcing the open call for submissions for Issue 6, to come out in February 2011, and which will be The Gender Issue.

See, we have always seen ourselves as a magazine by and for Irish LGBTQ women. We have done this because we feel that there is a need for a publication that focuses on women's issues in the Irish LGBTQ community. However, definitions of women's experience are as diverse as there are people in this world.

The main point of contention at the moment is this: should BoLT broaden its focus, taking a look at issues relating to genderqueer people, trans men, and everyone else on the female-to-male spectrum of people? We have never explicitly stated that we accept contributions from people who do not identify as female, yet this is indeed the case, as long as such contributions keep a focus on Irish LGBTQ women's issues.

When it comes to including people in the FTM spectrum, there are two possibilities to consider. Many people who identify as genderqueer or trans men have experienced life as women, even if it was against their will. As such, we would not want to exclude them from the remit of BoLT. On the other hand, many FTM spectrum people have found such consideration to be demeaning to their male identity, somehow questioning its authenticity compared to that of cis men.

We want BoLT to be as inclusive as possible while retaining its emerging character as a publication that addresses needs within the larger Irish LGBTQ community of all genders. As such, we are making this crux, this conundrum, the topic of Issue 6. We would like your best submissions on this, or other relevant topics to the general idea of Gender and Identity.

More information here.

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Annual NLGF Irish Gay and Lesbian Awards (GALAS), Ireland, gay/lesbian

Annual NLGF Irish Gay and Lesbian Awards (GALAS), Ireland, gay/lesbian
Category: Writer's Prize/Award
Founder/Editor: Undisclosed
E-mail Address: info@galas.ie

Description:
The GALAS were set up in 2009 by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation to honour lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people and organisations for their contributions to Irish society, both north and south of the border. The awards are also to honour politicians, employers and other people who are committed to advancing equality and social acceptance for LGBT Irish people in Ireland. In this, the second year of the GALAS, there will be 12 awards given to people and organisations from Southern and Northern Ireland. The longlist, created by public nominations will be given to 12 key LGBT organisations across the country, who will be charged with the task of shortlisting three final nominees. Categories include journalist/broadcaster of the year and blogger/website of the year.

(Directory entry)

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