Litmus Press is a program of Ether Sea Projects, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit literature and arts organization. We are dedicated to publishing innovative, cross-genre, and interdisciplinary work by poets, writers, translators, and artists. We strive to support both established and emerging writers who do not benefit from existing structures of privilege and whose work defies, resists, and refuses dominant and oppressive socio-cultural narratives.
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We are seeking visual art by Indigequeer / Two-Spirit artists for the cover of a volume of contemporary Indigenous LGBTQ2SIA+ poetry. Please send one or two pieces, with a minimum dpi of 150. Since this will be a book cover, we welcome diptychs, or two works that could serve as front and back cover. Either landscape or portrait image orientation is fine, but please know that 6x9 will be the likely size. However, we would rather have the artwork and the poems themselves determine the size of the book than the other way around. We ask that the artist be open to how the artwork works with the design of the book—any modifications (selecting a portion of the work, wrapping the work around the front and back cover, superimposing text) will be done with the artist’s approval. Please take a look at Litmus’s publications to get a sense of the design aesthetics. We will offer a modest honorarium to the artist. We look forward to seeing your work.
Book description:
The title of the book is tentatively Gathering in the Glittering Field, and it is scheduled to come out with Litmus Press in the first half of 2026. It has been over a decade since the publication of a book dedicated to two-spirit literature (Sovereign Erotics, 2011). Before that, only a couple existed: Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology (1988) (before the term “two-spirit” was coined), and the Fall 2010 edition of the Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature and Art and Thought. Many exciting authors have emerged since, attesting Native activism, land, food, sovereignty, and language revitalization which have become increasingly successful. Along with the project concept is a growing awareness that people outside the gender binary have always existed with traditionally respected roles within Native communities. Poetry has a crucial part to play in Indigenous activism and language revitalization; poetry in the form of song is also at the center of our religious traditions. To give a sense of the scope of two-spirit poetry, the goal is to present a mix of established and emerging writers. To create a space for young poets and unpublished poets, and represent the various regions and sovereign nations within the U.S. This collection will begin and reflect the current movement into a powerful futurity, guided by the voices of Indigenous poets whose genders and sexualities are fluid and expansive.