Call for Papers from LGBTQ+ Contributors
Crafted With Pride: Queer Craft and Contemporary Activism in Britain
Edited by Daniel Fountain

This edited collection will explore the role of craft within queer activism in Britain. From handmade t-shirts and protest banners to radical self-published zines and manifestos, there is a long history of using craft and DIY processes to explore identities, to bring communities together, and to encourage social and political change. Yet, many of these histories remain undocumented and unpublished. While there is a wealth of literature emerging in a North American context, this will be the first book to ever concentrate on the threads between craft and queer activism in Britain. A highly-illustrated and accessible volume, it will include never before published images and archival materials. The critical reflections that are included will interrogate the historic binary between art and craft, consider institutional responses to collecting craft, and highlight the continued political potency of ‘craftivism’. The book has a particular focus on contemporary activism, loosely ranging the 1980s to the present day. With contributions by a range of LGBTQ+ artists, academics, curators and activists, we will begin to weave together an important web between art, craft, queerness, and activism in Britain.

Several sections are already confirmed, but an additional call is being made for short critical essays that respond to the following broad themes:

Pride and Protest: this section focuses on public displays of activism. Contributions might reflect on the visual cultures of pride, the political potency (or lack thereof) of the rainbow symbol, craftivist interventions and protest art.

Cut, Paste, Print: writers may focus on the importance of collage, zine-making, and radical self-publishing as important sites for the dissemination of radical messages, political organising, and queer community building.

(Re)Crafting Narratives: contributions might focus on curatorial activism, community craft projects, notions of queering, decolonising, or ‘(re)crafting’ collections through crafted objects, and the ethics associated with collecting/archiving the visual cultures of activism.

Practical Notes:

Final essays should be no more than 4,000 words in length and will need to be submitted in January 2022. These will then be subject to further edits and peer-review feedback. The tone should be clear, accessible and suitable for a wide-ranging public audience.

Intellect have issued a strong expression of interest to publish the book and distribute it internationally via The University of Chicago Press. This is subject to a successful peer-review of the full and final manuscript.

Contributors should identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. This book is about our community, by our community, for our community. Submissions from Black and minority ethnic writers are particularly welcome.

Please submit a 300 word abstract accompanied by a 150 word biography to danfountainoutlook.com by Friday 9th July, 5pm (BST). Please include ‘Crafted With Pride Proposal’ in the subject line.