Waxing & Waning Presents:
The Subversive Edition
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Prompt
Evelyn Dieckhouse,
Hallie Scruggs,
William Kinney,
Katherine Koonce,
Mike Hill,
Cynthia Peak.
As a Tennessee publisher, we are ashamed and embarrassed by the actions of our state government in the expulsion of the two Black members of The Tennessee Three. Simply fed up with the archaic decorum of the establishment they had been a part of for less than two weeks, and feeling the pulsing heart of the Nashville people outside the Capitol and giving their pain and anger a space to occupy in the House of elected community members, one which was on its way to moving to make guns easier to purchase in the week after the mass shooting at Covenant Presbyterian School that claimed those 6 innocent souls named above, they were stripped from their earned and elected seats, and in doing so, the will of the people in this democratic society was silenced.
It is time for a new era. The ways of the old are no longer relevant or working for the people. We have opened this contest with the intent to publish writing and art that speaks to subversion—a dismantling of the old so that something new, better, and stronger can take its place. We are calling for submissions with the theme(s) of gun control/violence, abortion rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights. We are calling for these three themes in support of The Tennessee Three, whose actions were fueled by recent legislature against legal abortions, drag shows, transgender surgeries, book bans, etc., all of which came to a breaking point once the people’s voices were taken from them.
The winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions will be published in a volume of Waxing & Waning and distributed worldwide. Whether you’re a part of the South, from the South, or simply stand in support of The Tennessee Three, we want to consider your work. As Justin Jones said, “What is happening in Tennessee should sound an alarm for the rest of the nation.” Let’s get our voices back. Let’s get this book banned.
Contributors
(_poetry_)
Mikayla Elias (winner), Laura Candler (runner-up), Craig Cotter (honorable mention), Jennifer Davis Michael (honorable mention), & Kate Polak (honorable mention)
(_prose_)
Harry Thomas (winner), Leslie T. Grover (runner-up), Sandra Ligocki (honorable mention), Aleksandra Pandyra (honorable mention), & Yance Wyatt (honorable mention)