Writers Needed!

[multicolor.me]

Anthology by Multiracial Writers
Call for Submissions

Currently seeking essays and poetry for an anthology tentatively titled Multicolor Me: The Multiracial Voices of the Melting Pot.

Growing up multiracial can be a difficult and confusing experience. Being a multiracial adult can be a difficult and confusing experience. As America becomes more and more the melting pot it claims to be, many more multiracial children and adults will be seeking answers to the question “Who am I?” Now you can share your experience and help future generations get through their confusion.

If you are multiracial, Multicolor Me wants to hear from you! We are seeking any previously unpublished writing about your multiracial experience. Essays, poetry, personal narratives, or any other pieces up to 2000 words are welcome.

Submission Guidelines

1. If submitting a story, the story must be true, about you. All submissions must be original works and previously unpublished. All submissions must be related to the issue of being bi- or multiracial.

2. Please adhere to the 2000 word limit.

3. Please include the following with your submission:

your full name or pen name (please specify), the title of your piece, your contact info (email, address, phone number), your racial background, your bio, your age, your gender

4. Send your submissions to: multicolor.me@myself.com or
Multicolor Me
P.O. Box 1026
Highland Park, IL 60035

If sending via email: Please only send in word format (.doc),text format(.txt), or rich text format (.rtf) formats or in the body of the email.
If sending via snail mail: Please do not send discs, paper copies only.

Visit us on the web! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multicolor_me or http://groups.msn.com/multicolorme

[BeTheReds]

It will be either one or the other...

The uniqueness within me is mine alone.
You can't understand me.
Oh how i wish for a person just like me.
Alas but uniqueness is a curse and a blessing at the same time


I am so great and unique
There is no one like me.
This makes me special
I have the best of Both worlds WOOHOO!


Sorry count me out, i don't want to further pointless propaganda.

[YuheiCarreau]

Well, you could always write something that defies these stereotypes, instead of just pointlessly sniping :rolleyes:

You know, like:

I am not unique
I am not the best of both worlds
I'm better than those other guys
Go me!

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@May 19 2003, 12:38 PM
Well, you could always write something that defies these stereotypes, instead of just pointlessly sniping :rolleyes:

You know, like:

I am not unique
I am not the best of both worlds
I'm better than those other guys
Go me!
Yea, that's good.

How about this one..

I'm the man.

Even tho I look white, I am really more Asian than Asians.

All Asian Americans are twinkies.

Except for the ones who are not.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@May 19 2003, 01:01 AM
All Asian Americans are twinkies.

Except for the ones who are not.
HAHAHAAHH

those last two lines had me laughing

[deez nuts]

how about whiny asians suck

i'm not a whiny asian

so i don't suck

i'm the man

aZn PrYdE!

[multicolor.me]

How about writing whatever you really feel about it and then submitting it? ;)

[AliBabaIncorporated]

The "we don't wanna pick just one" collection of essays blaming everyone but ourselves for all our identity problems has been done extensively. e.g. Pearl Gaskins (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805059687/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/002-7471138-7506456?v=glance&s=books&st=*), Claudia O'Hearn (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375700110/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/002-7471138-7506456?v=glance&s=books&st=*), Teresa Williams (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1566398479/ref=pd_sim_books_2/002-7471138-7506456?v=glance&s=books), etc.

Unless you have something new to say or show, I don't see much point. How do you plan to distinguish your product in an increasingly crowded market?

btw i'd suggest disallowing poetry cuz you'll get a lot of not-very-insightful polemics whose authors think they sound deep because they are thinly disguised as blank verse or something.

edit: to further expand on the above, consider the question from that old Navy recruiting commercial: "If someone wrote a book about your life, would anyone want to read it?" I personally don't, and I doubt many others out there either, wanna read a book full of essays by wet-behind-the-ears teenagers who haven't done anything with their lives but think their traumatic experience of having to shade in a race bubble on the SAT or being misidentified as a Latino and spoken to in Spanish qualifies them to make deep commentary on racial identity and how people should be raising their kids.

I wanna read about a lady who started an orphanage or a bone marrow drive for hapa kids. I wanna read about a hapa who served in the Korean military. I wanna read about a hapa who got 25 to life for a racially motivated shooting of an ABC. I wanna read about a hapa who joined the KKK. I wanna see that we hapas can do something with our lives besides sitting in place bitching about "who am I?" when society and the fact of a mostly monolingual American upbringing has already answered that question extensively for 95% of our population.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@May 19 2003, 03:11 PM
edit: to further expand on the above, consider the question from that old Navy recruiting commercial: "If someone wrote a book about your life, would anyone want to read it?" I personally don't, and I doubt many others out there either, wanna read a book full of essays by wet-behind-the-ears teenagers who haven't done anything with their lives but think their traumatic experience of having to shade in a race bubble on the SAT or being misidentified as a Latino and spoken to in Spanish qualifies them to make deep commentary on racial identity and how people should be raising their kids.

I wanna read about a lady who started an orphanage or a bone marrow drive for hapa kids. I wanna read about a hapa who served in the Korean military. I wanna read about a hapa who got 25 to life for a racially motivated shooting of an ABC. I wanna read about a hapa who joined the KKK. I wanna see that we hapas can do something with our lives besides sitting in place bitching about "who am I?" when society and the fact of a mostly monolingual American upbringing has already answered that question extensively for 95% of our population.
hahah dude that's like a presidential speech. Alibaba for hapa president!!!

but wouldn't you think that hapa teenagers might be interested in reading about hapa teenage angst?

[YuheiCarreau]

For a second there, I thought you were saying that Old Navy was recruiting.

[BeTheReds]

I don't think hapa teenagers care about other hapa teenagers' angst. Anything that will bring the attention off of themselves and how unique they are will not interest them. I am sure there will be many people who wish to contribute to this piece of work, but there will be few who want to read it.

[YuheiCarreau]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@May 19 2003, 07:50 PM
I don't think hapa teenagers care about other hapa teenagers' angst.  Anything that will bring the attention off of themselves and how unique they are will not interest them.  I am sure there will be many people who wish to contribute to this piece of work, but there will be few who want to read it.
Hmmm, is anyone else now dying to hear the story of BTR's misspent Hapa youth? I say you and AliBaba are the ones with the Hapa angst, just not the same kind you're talking about :P

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@May 19 2003, 11:14 PM
Hmmm, is anyone else now dying to hear the story of BTR's misspent Hapa youth? I say you and AliBaba are the ones with the Hapa angst, just not the same kind you're talking about :P
ouch


:rolleyes:

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by YuheiCarreau@May 20 2003, 12:14 PM
Hmmm, is anyone else now dying to hear the story of BTR's misspent Hapa youth? I say you and AliBaba are the ones with the Hapa angst, just not the same kind you're talking about  :P
I spent my hapa youth believing I was unique and special. Once I realized that no one gives a shit, I woke up.

Hapa angst? Yes I had plenty. I have plenty now. There are a million other more important problems in the world to worry about rather than trying to answer the question "Who am I?"

WHAT THE FUCK, You're YOU!

Question answered.

(I think this passage would do well in that poetry book. Too bad it isn't a poem.)

[thaite]

maybe if you performed it as spoken word and play the bongos.

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by thaite@May 21 2003, 03:12 AM
maybe if you performed it as spoken word and play the bongos.
O with a Jazz bass playing in the background.

[multicolor.me]

Wow. My call for submissions has generated quite a discussion. That's great. Discussion is a good thing.

AliBaba, I can see where you're coming from, but I don't want this book to be only about "who am I" teenage angst. I suppose I could have worded my call better, but you are the only person who read it in such a way that this is the only kind of work I am seeking.

I actually haven't received any of that type of work to be honest. Most of the work I've received has been rather deep and has come entirely from adults. I haven't received any work from teenagers, nor have I received any work about being a teenager.

I agree with you; I would much rather read about a hapa who started an orphanage or joined the Korean army. I hope I receive some work about such things. I don't want to limit this to any one group of multiracial people though. I'm hoping for some really out-there, exciting stories AND I'm hoping for everyday teenage angst. I want to cover has much of the multiracial experience as I can within the confines of one book.

I appreciate your comments and you may be right about the poetry issue. I am receiving far more poetry than essays, but more of it is good than is bad.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say about it for now. I'm enjoying reading all the comments. :)

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by multicolor.me@May 24 2003, 09:46 AM

AliBaba, I can see where you're coming from, but I don't want this book to be only about "who am I" teenage angst. I suppose I could have worded my call better, but you are the only person who read it in such a way that this is the only kind of work I am seeking.

Nope, I was there too.

Anyway I think any piece of work you recieve that does not fit a stereotype, call the author unique, or the like will be left out of your final product wether you like it or not.

Those will be stories about normal humans, and you don't want stories about normal people, you want social tragedies.

You want ethnic conflict.

You want inner struggle.

Good luck, but again, it's not gonna be somehting I want to read..

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@May 24 2003, 05:20 AM
Originally posted by multicolor.me@May 24 2003, 09:46 AM

AliBaba, I can see where you're coming from, but I don't want this book to be only about "who am I" teenage angst. I suppose I could have worded my call better, but you are the only person who read it in such a way that this is the only kind of work I am seeking.

Nope, I was there too.

Anyway I think any piece of work you recieve that does not fit a stereotype, call the author unique, or the like will be left out of your final product wether you like it or not.

Those will be stories about normal humans, and you don't want stories about normal people, you want social tragedies.

You want ethnic conflict.

You want inner struggle.

Good luck, but again, it's not gonna be somehting I want to read..

well but no offense BTR, how do you know that this is really what he wants in his book from just two posts on this thread? i got the sense that he's pretty open minded about whatever kinds of writing people send and that it doesn't have to be "social tragedies" or "ethnic conflict".

[BeTheReds]

Originally posted by SunWuKung@May 25 2003, 01:09 AM

well but no offense BTR, how do you know that this is really what he wants in his book from just two posts on this thread? i got the sense that he's pretty open minded about whatever kinds of writing people send and that it doesn't have to be "social tragedies" or "ethnic conflict".
I guess I really don't. I'm just assuming.

I'll probably read the final draft anyway, since it will be shoved down my throat by someone.

I'm sorry if I am being stubborn. I'm a jerk sometimes.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by BeTheReds@May 25 2003, 09:03 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@May 25 2003, 01:09 AM
well but no offense BTR, how do you know that this is really what he wants in his book from just two posts on this thread? i got the sense that he's pretty open minded about whatever kinds of writing people send and that it doesn't have to be "social tragedies" or "ethnic conflict". I guess I really don't. I'm just assuming. I'll probably read the final draft anyway, since it will be shoved down my throat by someone. I'm sorry if I am being stubborn. I'm a jerk sometimes.
it's all good.   :)