Queer lives are often foreclosed by the very impossibility of guaranteeing a desirable future that is not bleak or hopeless and comes with the promise of a happy ending. However, for many, living a queer life 10 years ago was not the same as it is today. The global LGBTIQ+ movement that gained tremendous momentum in the last few decades leading to decriminalization of homosexuality and legalization of same-sex partnerships in several countries has, to a considerable extent, transformed queer lives. It will be, however, grossly incorrect to claim that everyone has been benefited by the movement. To what extent queer lives have been influenced by the movement depends on myriad factors such as class, caste, race, ethnicity, religion, education, location, able-bodiedness, and so on and so forth. Therefore, it goes without saying that queer lives and how those are panning out right now are not homogeneous or uniform. Yet, things are different than what they used to be a decade ago: if not anything else, at least there is a significant visibility of queer folx in everyday lives, on social media, in popular culture and legal discourses which are making headlines quite often. It looks like queer lives may no longer end up getting lost in oblivion. Rather, there seems to be a possibility of a future— a future which could be more fascinating yet challenging, happier yet not without apprehensions. Queer histories, if taken into account, may show us how things may turn out in the next decade. Learning from the past, and projecting the present onto the future, we invite fictional and non-fictional narratives on how one can imagine a queer life exactly 10 years from now. The submissions may include short stories, plays, poems, letters to future selves, imaginary testimonies (life stories), comic strips, essays, and more.

1. A non-refundable submission fee of INR 200 must be paid via Razorpay before filling up the form. The confirmation receipt needs to be uploaded in this form.

2. Only one submission allowed per person.

3. At least 1 feature image (preferably square-cropped) required for the submission.

4. Please read the theme thoroughly before submitting.

5. Writers of selected pieces will be notified and their works would be published on Articulate eventually.

6. Write-ups will be selected by the curator Prof. Kaustav Bakshi and his decision will be final and binding.

Dr. Kaustav Bakshi is an Associate Professor at the Department of English, Jadavpur University. A queer activist and author, Kaustav, in his own small ways, works for the wellness of the LGBTIQ+ community. He has published extensively on queer literature and culture. His books, Queer Studies: Texts, Contexts, Praxis (Orient Blackswan, 2019) and Rituparno Ghosh: Cinema, Gender and Art (Routledge, 2015) are significant contributions to queer cultural studies.