Queer Feminisms Writing Workshop

We are pleased to open applications for the Queer Feminisms Writing Workshop organized by Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research. The workshop will lay the groundwork for our June 2020 issue on the same theme. It will be held over five full days, from Friday, November 29 until Tuesday, December 3, 2019, and will take place in Lebanon. The first two days of the workshop will cover discussions on theory, praxis, alternative methodologies, and non-linear writing methods in relation to queer feminisms. The last three days will be dedicated to a peer to peer workshop of the participants’ writing projects, with the support of mentors/facilitators.

Overview of the Writing Workshop:

After years of dreaming and plotting, Kohl’s first writing workshop is finally coming into being. A continuation of Kohl’s focus on alternative and feminist knowledge co-creation, this workshop is a contribution to historicizing our movements’ struggles, desires, and stories.

We will select a maximum of 8 participants who would like to channel their ideas, politics, and experiences into a written project (research or equivalent). Upon selection, every participant will be assigned a mentor, either from Kohl’s editorial team or advisory board, with whom they will develop their project into a first draft prior to the workshop. At the workshop, participants will discuss their writings in depth with mentors and other participants, sharing praxis, rooting queer theories in our experiences, and challenging methodologies. Their drafts will be reviewed by peers in a collaborative workshop process. After the workshop, participants will finalize their writings with the editorial team in order to publish their final work in Kohl’s June 2020 issue on Queer Feminisms.

On Queer Feminisms:

The writing projects have to respond to the theme of queer feminisms as it has been conceptualized and experienced in Arabic-speaking countries in particular, as well as transnationally. What are queer feminisms? How do we theorize them away from western/white articulations? How have queer politics that are intersectional taken root and manifested in our movements’ praxis? What are the queer feminist fault lines we encounter? What political projects are we envisioning and want to see materialize, and what mechanisms do we put in place for ourselves and each other?

Timeline:

- The deadline for submitting a complete application is Sunday, August 11, 2019.

- We will conduct calls with shortlisted participants between August 12 and 16.

- Successful applicants will be contacted by Monday, August 19, 2019.

- Participants will work with the editorial team from August 19 until October 31, 2019.

- First draft due on November 1, 2019.

- Workshop in Lebanon will take place between November 29 and December 3, 2019.

- Second draft due on January 7, 2020.

- Participants will continue working on their projects with the editorial team and their mentors until June 2020, date of publication of Kohl’s issue 6.1 on Queer Feminisms.

Eligibility:

We accept abstracts in either English or Arabic for research projects and essays as well as substantial writing projects that are experimental, artistic, or collaborative.

This workshop is only open to women, trans, and intersex from the MENA region. One spot is open to a strong applicant from the global south. Priority will be given to candidates with limited institutional access. 

We will cover all the travel expenses of successful candidates, including flights, accommodation for the duration of the workshop, and meals.

In order to apply, please fill the following form. For inquiries and in case of technical issues, please write to workshops@kohljournal.press.