We are thrilled to announce the call for submission for the second issue of Marked Nonfiction Anthology. The issue, which is sponsored by Chinonso Okonkwo, will document stories of queer Nigerians who have been kitoed, and will be guest edited by Chinecherem Obor.
Background
In contemporary Nigeria, queer people living in the country are easy targets for crimes involving abuse, discrimination, blackmail, humiliation, extortion, and even mob attacks leading to death. Over time, these crimes have ultimately morphed into what is now called ‘kito’.
A kito is someone who acts as if they are queer on dating apps for the purposes of outing, blackmailing, extorting or physically harming their unsuspecting gay victim(s). To be ‘kitoed’ is to become a victim of the deceit and evil arrangements of a kito.
For decades now, the word “kito” has become common in the Nigerian queer scene. In the light of exposing the effects of this legitimized brand of violence against gay people in Nigeria, Arts Lounge is seeking creative nonfiction, personal essays, and pieces from queer Nigerians who have been victims of kito in the past.
The anthology will largely focus on the traumatic experiences of these kito victims, and how their lives have been shaped by the events that happened. The goal is to hear the voices of queer Nigerians whose lives have been marred by the crippling anxiety that comes with surviving such a situation whilst creating awareness by telling their stories.
Submission Guidelines:
>Submission is open to only queer Nigerians living in Nigeria or other parts of Africa and/or in the diaspora.
>Submit only works that reflect the theme of the anthology. Multiple or simultaneous submissions will not be read, accepted, or acknowledged.
>All entries must be no less than 1,500 words, and no more than 3,500 words.
>All entries must be submitted in a SINGLE WORD DOCUMENT, typed in TIMES NEW ROMAN, font 12, single spaced, and sent via email only to the ArtsLounge Team at artsloungenyc@gmail.com
>Submit with the subject “Marked Anthology Submission”. Entries must be accompanied by a cover letter that bears the word count, preferred name of the writer, sexual/gender identity of the writer.
>Any submission outside the submission timeline will be disqualified.
>For privacy’s sake, tell us if you wish for your work to be published with your real name or with a pseudonym.
> All long-listed works will be published in the issue 2 and on our website.
>Accepted contributors must be available at all times, for necessary editing of their works and correspondence that may follow.
>Except on proven cases of plagiarism or when a piece we have published violates any form of human rights, we do not take down works once they have been published in our anthology or on our website.
>Deadline: October 20th- December 20th
>A cash prize of 100,000 naira will be given to the best entry to acknowledge the excellence of the craft and to encourage visibility through writing.
*Honorarium will be given to the runner up.
Guest Editor
Chinaecherem Obor is a writer of fiction from Abakaliki currently enrolled in a creative writing MFA at the University of Alabama. He is a past fiction editor for The Muse, currently an assistant editor for Black Warrior Review, and has been published in Arts Lounge, Brittle Paper, Prufrock, Saraba Mag, and in Selves: Afro Anthology of Creative Nonfiction. His story won the second runner-up prize for the Don F. Hendrie Jr. Prize in Fiction at the University of Alabama’s MFA Creative Writing Contests.
