Tom Léger and Riley MacLeod (eds) - The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard

COPYRIGHT 2012 BY TOPSIDE PRESS

Topside Press

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Lger, Tom & MacLeod, Riley C.

The Collection: Short Fiction From The Transgender Vanguard / ed. Tom Lger and Riley MacLeod

ISBN: 978-0-9832422-0-8 (hardcover)

ISBN: 978-0-9832422-1-5 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-9832422-2-2 (ebook)

LCCN: 2012940833

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover and interior design by Julie Blair

A volume of this magnitude would not be possible without the support of the dozens upon dozens of people who helped us during the two years leading up to its publication, including Vani Natarajan and Seth Carlson, who performed our copy editing and Katie Liederman, who coordinated our publicity efforts. Red Durkin, in addition to contributing to the book itself, devoted hundreds of hours of work in both community outreach during the submissions process and in the months leading up to publication, and her support as a friend and as an artist, made this final product possible in the form it exists today. Additionally, Sarah Schulman and the generosity with which she has honestly shared her wisdom, experience and talent is the reason we were sure that vision we had for Topside could, and should, be realized.

Encouragement and support came from Zo Holmes, Jay Kotowski, Matt Brim, Sarah Green, Taylor Black, Elizabeth Koke, Amber Dawn, Zoe Whittall, Cris Beam, Cristy C. Road, Annie Danger, Dylan Scholinski, Rachel Pollack, Jack Radish, T Cooper, Scott Turner Schofield, Morty Diamond and Bodies of Work Magazine, Bevin Branlandingham, Jason Lydon and the volunteers at Black and Pink, T.T. Jax at the Lambda Literary Foundation, the Barnard College Library and the Barnard Center for Research on Women, and the many people who stepped up to share information about this project with their communities around the globe.

Special thanks also should be extended to Toms MFA cohort, Beth Bigler, Wallace Wilhoit Jr., Karen Terrey, Jean Ann Wertz, Matthew Quick, and Kalela Williams, a source of strength and inspiration for many years.

Additionally, without the technical and artistic dedication of Julie Blair, we would never have even been able to consider embarking on this adventure. We will be forever in her debt.

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Finally, our early supporters made The Collection possible by taking a chance on a not-yet-published book from a brand new, unproven publishing venture and soon behalf of our team, all of our authors, and the readers of this book over the coming yearswe would like to thank The 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy, Adison, Ailsa Craig, Alex Holding, Alex K., Alice Kalafarski, Anders Zanichkowsky, Andrea Zanin, Andreia Blue, Annette Kirby, Ash Brown, Audacia Ray, Beth Gibbons, Bex Kat-Herder, Brynn Cassidy West, Callan Molinari, Candace Gittens, Christopher C Hamann, In honor of CeCe McDonald, Claire Cramer, Comrade Alita, Connor Raymond, Cory, Dana Biscotti Myskowski, Daniello Cacace, Delaney Manders, Devon S, Diana Cage & Max Crandall, DJC, DS from PGH, E. Steven Fried, Elle Rose Bemis, Ellen Shull, Emily Dix Thomas, Eric and Alejandra, Erin Bunny Burrows, Everett Maroon, Frances Jean, Gabriel Faith, Hayden Mills, HB Lozito, Heather Flescher, Jack Florey, Jane AlphaMale, Jayden Sparke, Jean Harris, Jeannette Montgomery, Jeff Brody, Jen Richards, Jeri Morgan, Jessica Hayes, Jessica Reardon Smith, Jessie Lee, Joey Alison Sayers, John Berdrow, Julia Williams, JXB, Kacey Skye Musick, Karen Fredrickson, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Kythryne Aisling, L. Sean Hubbard, L. Wheaton, Lee King, Lilith Graye, Lucy Grey D, Marcy Wehling, Marja Erwin, Matthew K. Watson, Matthew Stewart, Maxime Valle, Melody J Proebstel, Michael Rosenthal, Mik Kinkead, Miriam and Joe Slipowitz, Monica Rodriguez, Morgan H. Goode, Morgan M Page, Mym Johnson, Naomi Clark, Nic Bravo, Nico Vitti, Noach Dzmura, Oliver Haimson, Omer Elad, Pam Park, Peter Finlon, Rachel Casiano Hernandez, Ray Drew, Rebekah Bassen, Rev. Cindy Bourgeois, Rice-Aron Library of Marlboro College, Ronan & Tobi, Roy Prez, Sam Everett Byrd, Sarah Laing, Sea Parsons, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Shawn Syms, Smoove, Susan H Linden, Syl & George, Talya, Tara Durkin Rochford, Ted Kerr, Tess Yardney, Tessa Maria LaLonde, Tey Meadow, Theo Czerevko, Tobaron Waxman, Tyrone Boucher, Vani Natarajan, Wesley Flash, Wyatt Riot, and Zoey Leigh Peterson.

When we began this project, we didnt really know what the resulting book would look like. In the hundreds of submissions we read, even we were surprised to see a dozen different genres full of narratives we never imagined. As we read and re-read each story in the process of making a lot of difficult decisions, the very fact that we had these kinds of choices to make helped us understand that our dream of revising the landscape of trans literature could be realized.

We also found that our initial suspicions were correct: that there are hundreds if not thousands of talented writers interested in the same narratives we are, and that there are many writers capable of producing the kinds of stories other trans people and their allies want to read. In the end, we had to judiciously select only a small fraction of the work, and we have still ended up producing a book nearly 400 pages in length. (If we had included all the works we wanted to, the volume would have become unwieldy to print, sell, or read.)

These stories range in stylistic expression from experimental narratives to speculative fiction to close-to-the-bone realism. There are love stories, adventure stories, family stories, stories about class and racism and sexism and politics. Stories about bodies, real, imagined, and desired; about relationships beginning, ending, changing, and shifting; stories about moving to new towns and coming back to hometowns as a new person; stories about natural disasters; stories about the end of the world. Stories about all of these things together. Stories about other things entirely.