DesiLit Daily

The anthology will feature a seven-chapter manuscript about the ways in which second-generation South Asian-American women participate in daily activities in order to make their identities, along with a large collection of poems. The project is designed to give voice to those silenced and marginalized.

This project is inspired by Roksana Badruddoja's dissertation, which is being re-written into a book/anthology-format manuscript, then submitted to Aunt Lute Press for consideration for publication.

The dissertation traces the lives of twenty-five South Asian-American women across the nation through a six-month feminist and collaborative ethnography. The women in the sample are either American-born or arrived to the U.S. by age 4, and they trace their hertiage to Bangaldesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan, cutting across all religions, languages, sexual orientations, etc.

The anthology is therefore specific to a subject matter, but no subject will be censored. The poetry should speak to identity-work: second-generation South Asian-American women and how you live your daily lives. The poetry should also speak to multiplicateous identities as women, as South Asians, as Americans, as Muslims, as queers, etc.

All poetry that speaks to identity-making will be given full consideration, regardless of it being fiction, nonfiction, sci-fi, etc. You are the author, and you tell the story that you want to tell about yourself.

There are no specific requirements in regards to format, meter, etc. The only two requirements are that the submissions must speak to identity-making and performance as second-generation South Asian-American women, which includes intersections of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, religion, culture, the colonial spirit, and a whole host of other identity markers you can think of.

Topics of interest include: the exploration of: triumph, celebration, transformation, re-invention, struggle, reconciliation, retreat, and loss.

The manuscript follows in the tradition of the late Gloria Anzaldúa. Please look at some of her work before submitting your poems.

Women may submit up to three poems (no word limit) in MS Word format to rbadruddojar@yahoo.com, or at

Roksana Badruddoja
South Asian-American Women Project
5343 Manderston Drive
San Jose, CA 95138

Submission Deadline: February 1, 2006
(If you are interested in submitting but do not think you will be able to make the deadline, please e-mail me so that we may work out an alternate deadline.)