GLEN O'BRIEN,
Madam, - Currach Press (an imprint of Columba) is publishing a collection of gay-related life stories later in 2003. These will involve stories of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons, stories of their parents, siblings, relations and friends, stories of gay parents and their children.
We hope the book will reach a wide audience both within and outside the gay community. It will prove helpful to non-gays in their journey of understanding of what being gay means and how it is viewed from a variety of personal experiences.
The stories will cover whole lives as well as snapshots; they will cover positive and negative experiences; issues surrounding coming out to yourself and to others and also choosing to remain in the closet; issues around growing up, around family; experiences of relationships; spiritual issues; issues around partnerships and the law and the Revenue; experiences relating to church and state; experiences relating to employment and to volunteering; illness and bereavement; and other concerns. I would like the spirit of the collection to be one of affirmation and hope, of encouragement and welcome.
We are inviting people to contribute to this collection. Each individual story will help build a book that will be worth reading and provoke thoughtful reflection. I already have a number of stories and need to receive submissions in particular from the following: gay people living in rural areas; those who identify as bisexual or transgendered; sons/daughters of a gay parent; spouses of gay/lesbian people; women religious/clergy. If you would like to be part of this project please contact me at the address below.
Readers may decide to write under a pseudonym and in that case I alone, as editor of the collection, would be aware of their identity and it would be kept with the utmost confidence and care. Stories may vary from 1,000 to 3,000 words. The deadline is mid-February. - Yours, etc.,
GLEN O'BRIEN,
Editor,
Currach Press,
55A Spruce Avenue,
Stillorgan Industrial Park,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
glenobrien@eircom.net