"The possibilities for excitement, for adventure,
for fulfilment and simple sensual pleasure are endless!"
Publications
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Full text of works featured in TRANS FUTURES:
"Cumulative Realities" by Stefanie Carter Cuthbert and "Fruiting Bodies" by jay griffith
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About
SHAPELESS PRESS is an independent publishing project based in Washington Heights (occupied Lenape land) and created by Glen Kalliope Rodman (editor and writer) and Amalia (artist and graphic designer). Our mission is to make Trans art for a Trans audience. Shapeless Press releases semi-regular compilation zines of art and writing by Trans & Nonbinary people.
Our zines are available in print at Shapeless Press events and at Bluestockings Bookstore in Manhattan, and digitally right here on our website. Our digital zines are free to read, so please, come browse our Publications section!
At Shapeless Press, we strive to build continuing relationships with our contributors based on communication, dialogue and mutual trust. We welcome feedback and collaboration. Shapeless Press stands in opposition to capitalism, white supremacy, colonialism, transphobia, transmisogyny and all hegemonic forces that seek to police the shapes of others.
We are currently accepting illustration submissions for our publication of Keep Your Shape, a public domain science fiction short story.
To The Trans/Nonbinary Person Reading This
Shapeless Press began with a question.
I didn’t notice, at first, that I was tailoring my writing to a cis audience. There is pedagogical value in accessibility, and there are material victories to be won with education. But as I responded to revision after revision from editors seeking to keep their cis readers comfortable, I could feel the urgency and truth of my words warping. If my writing must be compelling to the broadest possible readership, I can’t use the language that feels right or tackle the meaty, messy subjects that mean the most to me. I have to start at “Trans 101” every single time. It gets old.
So I asked,
“What would you write if you knew only Trans people would read it?”
I began to consciously, intentionally, write for a Trans readership. The grim reality is that there are no all-Trans major media platforms. We are forced to constantly address the cis spectator, and too often this address requires explanation, and in the hands of the wrong editor the explanation becomes an apology. “I’m sorry my life is so different from yours. Please, please listen, the stakes are so high.”
In the all-Trans zines we publish at SHAPELESS PRESS, I want to create a space for Trans people to make art for other trans people. No apologies, no explanations, no Trans 101. Make this art. For yourself, because it will feel good. For your community, because we will support you and celebrate you and challenge you to learn and grow. It will make us all stronger, not having to apologize. I believe that knowledge can only be cultivated through dialogue and collaboration. By making this art and sharing it with each other, we can learn so much more, so much faster. They’ll never be able to stop us.
-GKR