This folio seeks to collect novel, experimental, and personal approaches to video game writing from queer & trans writers of color.
Video games are fun! They can be challenging and weird and chock full of orientalism and homophobia; many of us love them despite it. This folio is interested in those kinds of tensions; what is the cost of escapism, in cases where your people are positioned as the enemy? What does it mean to execute a male power fantasy as someone affected by misogyny? Alternatively, what has escapism taught players about themselves — gender, ability, goals? What is fulfilling about inhabiting a different self?
This folio is interested in the art of video games, too; writing on music, sound effects, writing that challenges what “good” graphics look like, writing that explores labor; critical engagements, too, in the politics and approaches of narratives across franchises or individual games.
Video games are a vast medium — visual novels, RPGs, life sims, battle royale, puzzle matching — writing on any and all of them will be considered! In the spirit of this, the category of “creative nonfiction” is broad — list essays, lyrical works, prose poem sequences, comics, hybrid works and uncategorizable attempts alongside more standard essays are encouraged.
Both pitches and full drafts will be considered! Send your pitch or draft to summerisfarah@gmail.com with the subject line FOLIO SUBMISSION; include a brief bio and a line about your favorite game :) Only one pitch/piece per person will be considered, with an 1,800 word limit.
Deadline: August 15, 2023
