Call for Queer Writers: Come (OUT) As You Are Poetry Reading

Woman Made Gallery is looking for poets and writers to grace the stage for Come (Out) As You Are, a vibrant showcase celebrating queer joy and identity. They’re especially excited to uplift the voices of UIC students but all are encouraged to apply. Help create a night of radical visibility. This is a space to honor the ways you come out, show up and show out just as you are. They’re seeking eight performers, each with up to ten minutes of stage time. All experience levels and identities are welcome. They want your stories, your poems and your truths. Please submit up to 3 poems for consideration.

This event will take place during Pride month on June 20 at 6pm at Woman Made Gallery.

About the Juror: Le’Trice Buckingham is a Chicago based multi-disciplinary artist whose practice weaves together visual art, storytelling, and poetry to subvert and conjure. Rooted in the transformative power of art, her work engages with ancestral memory and the fluid intersections of history and imagination. Through bold abstract imagery and layered symbolism she creates spaces for reflection, resistance, and reimagining. As a storyteller, Buckingham draws from oral traditions, folklore, and lived experiences, infusing her narratives with rhythm, movement, and historical resonance. Her work has been featured in literary journals, exhibitions, and community-based art initiatives, and she continues to cultivate spaces for creative expression through Art Conjure, a collective dedicated to Black storytelling and visual artistic conjuration.

Calendar

Submission Deadline: Saturday, May 31 | 11:59PM CST
Notification: Monday, June 9
Event Date: Friday, June 20 | 6-8PM

Requirements

Submissions are welcome from anyone and everyone! Please submit up to 3 pieces of writing for consideration.

Application Instructions

Submit via Submittable!
Contact WMG Program Coordinator, Corinne Pompey, with any questions or concerns: corinne@womanmade.org