Call for Submissions

Queering Sikh Identity and Desire through Lyrical Uprisings and the Poetics of Becoming

We invite poets from India and its diaspora to submit work that explores queerness in relation to their Sikh identity, sexuality, and the body. You do not need to identify as LGBTQIA+ to contribute—this call is open to those navigating self-discovery through poetry, as well as those who affirm and celebrate their queerness on the page.

We seek poems that speak of trauma and resistance, that queer language itself to reimagine Sikh bodies—bodies that have been disciplined and controlled, yet have always found ways to rebel, to resist, to rewrite. Let your words become rhythm and resonance, a lyrical uprising where language becomes justice.

We welcome poems as protest, as contemplation, as communion—works that dream desire into being, that imagine kinship across borders, that claim space and voice for queer Sikh existences. Bring us your reflections, musings, dissents—your poetics of becoming.

Submission Guidelines:

     I.         Maximum four submissions

   II.         Include a summary of the work

 III.         All pieces must be submitted as a single word file

 IV.         Subject line: Queering Sikh Identity and Desire in Poetry

   V.         All submission to be sent to both jsingh@nmu.edu and ginasingh203@gmail.com

 VI.         Deadline for submissions: 31 December 2025

General Requirements: 

Include a cover letter and a short 60 words literary biography written in the third person.   

Provide the following information:  

• Legal Name 
• Pen Name (if used)  
• Postal Address 

We look forward to the transformative power of your words!

Editors: Jaspal Kaur Singh and Gitanjali Singh