For our first ever full length fiction prize, Abode Press is looking to acquire fiction short story collections or novels written by people of color who are queer and/or trans. We want work that is voice driven, sparks social change, reminds us of home, and defies genre. We are especially interested in works that are haunting, that have a strong sense of place, that are queer, radical, and genre defiant. Some of the editorial teams favorite authors who do this remarkably well are Octavia Butler, Mariana Enriquez, Carmen Maria Machado, Toni Morrison, and Rivers Solomon. We also love when work is inspired from theorists, such as Audre Lorde and Saidiya Hartman.
The book award fiction prize is open until May 31st. We cannot wait to read your work. Guidelines and submission info here!
PRIZE DETAILS
- 1000 cash prize
- 25 author copies
- Standard book contract
- Professional marketing and publicity
- Work with an indie press and a small team who will champion your work!
Apr 11, 2026, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM CDT | Virtual Workshop
Workshop Description: The Craft of Disruption / Writing the Rupture invites participants to write from the “breakage”—the place(s) where language trembles under the weight of truth. To write the rupture is to confront what systems, silence, and survival have tried to normalize. It is an act of healing, not because it erases the wound, but because it names it with courage and clarity. Together we will explore how disruption in form and voice can open new pathways to wholeness, how to use language as both surgical tools and salves. This is writing that disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed, that insists art must not only move hearts but move people toward justice. Participants will engage in guided readings, discussion, and generative exercises that turn rupture into revelation—writing that does not flinch, writing that frees.
About the Presenter: Desiree McCray (she/they) entered the world, hailing from Chicago, Illinois. As a womanist scholar, preacher, activist, author, spoken word artist, and writer, she channels her creativity into crafting poetry and scholarly research, delving into themes of race, gender, bodies, class, and the intersection of Black religion, and culture. McCray has released three collections of poems: My Sisters Look Like God: A Womanist Manifesto of Poetry (2024) with Abode Press; Send a Refreshing: Poetic Prayers of an Intercessor (2023) and Hope Among Other Foods: a concoction of fat girl poetry (2020). Their womanist work is forthcoming in Femme Literati: Mixtape Anthology for Black Women Edition Three, “Black Feminist Collective,” “Gal’s Guide Anthology,” and “RAGE Zine.” Desiree McCray graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, earning a Master of Divinity with a certificate in Black Church Studies in 2021. Ultimately, Desiree McCray provides divine inspiration, spiritual affirmation, and radical transformation through her written and spoken words and by the word of God.
Tickets are $25 minimum for general admission and limited $10 tickets for writers-in-need. All proceeds go towards paying our presenters and helping the Press pay for operational expenses. Thank you for your contribution to help keep an indie intersectional press afloat! Get your tickets here!
DEAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Acquired by Editor Diamond Braxton, this autofiction book turns the mirror on the present moment in America tainted by the persecution of undocumented and native bodies, extensive trans legislation seeking to seize the livelihood of trans people all while negotiating the radicalness of shumarí’s joy when confronted with a brain tumor diagnosis. Coming Summer 2026.
About the author: féi iká shumarí (b.1993, Chihuahua, Mexico) is a two spirit/trans, (un)documented writer, visual artist, and healer. She is a 2023 Lambda Literary fellow and 2022 Tin House Scholar. féi is the author of HOOD CRIATURA (Sundress Publications, 2020), the forthcoming (UN)DOCU MENTE (Noemi Press, 2025) and CHABÓCHI DOLL (Abode Press, 2026). féi’s poetry/ prose is published in Los Angeles Review of Books, POETRY, Academy of American Poets, Hayden Ferry’s Review, Oxford Review of Books, TransLash Media, Somewhere we are Human( Harper Collins, 2022), Here to Stay (Harper Collins, 2024), Split This Rock, F News Magazine, and more. féi is descendent of the Pi’ma, Rarámuri, and Cora peoples. For more of her projects, designs, services and products visit: feiikashumari.com.
We want to take a moment to acknowledge accomplishments in the Abode Press family.
Sarah Alcaide-Escue has 3 Tolkien-inspired poems forthcoming in the fun and whimsical magazine, Enchanted Living.
Addie Tsai’s chapbook, tongue withheld, is being published by Harbor Editions in 2027! They also have a poem being published in Grist - A Journal of The Literary Arts.
Angela Heiser has three translations out at The Poetry Lighthouse.
Congratulations to these Abode staff members!! Learn more about them on our Masthead page.
Thank you, as always, for your support! We love you!
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