Morty Diamond writes on the Bodies of Work blog: ‘We are so excited to be putting together this magazine, mostly because we think it’s long overdue. The “we” are three trans artists – Cooper Lee Bombardier, Morty Diamond and Annie Danger – who have been making art/performing/writing and generally causing havoc for many years.
Personally, I came to the end of my rope with feeling tokenized within the art and lit world when, in 2008, I started to look for a publisher for my second anthology of trans writers, Trans Love / Trans Sex. Many of the bigger publishers I dared send the manuscript to told me they simply do not publish trans literature because “it just doesn’t sell”. So, I found an independent publisher who loved the book and was going to publish it until they ended up going out of business! As you can see, this story is twofold. The mainstream publishers say no to trans literature while indie publishers are trying to stay afloat and can only publish a handful of books a year, leaving very little room for trans writers. Where is a burgeoning trans writer to go?
I believe the art world feels the same about trans artists. I don’t know as much about the art world as I do about the publishing world but they usually match up in terms of how they feel about “commercial viability” and we are simply not that commercially viable according to them… Well – fuck them!
Bodies of Work is going to help bring trans artists and writers to the forefront. I am a firm believer that ART SAVES LIVES. I know it has saved mine. We want Bodies of Work to be a hub where all trans people can see what other trans people are working on. We want to inspire and be inspired by our collective voice through all genres of art and literature.
Which brings me to the last point: SEND IN YOUR SUBMISSIONS!’
Check out the website for further details, including the form for submission.
