June 2026 Challenge
Body
Judith Butler argued that gender isn’t something we are, but something we do. It’s a performance—one that either meets the status quo or subverts it. What happens when we refuse to perform? We’re seeking writing that pulls apart the categories: gender and sex, heteronormativity and transgression, the body we were assigned and the one we actually inhabit.
Send us your fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that questions what “normal” looks like, explores the ways we resist gender conformity, and finds power through that rebellion. We want writing about gender fluidity, non-normative relationships, and bodily autonomy. This theme is for everyone who has ever lived outside the lines—and for anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to try.
We welcome writing of all forms: flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid work. We’re especially interested in forms that enact their own kind of transgression, such as autofiction, speculative fiction, and experimental poetry.
Three winners will be selected and published at the end of July.
We are now offering editorial commentary on submissions. For an additional fee, you’ll receive two feedback notes from our experienced editors or readers. To learn more and submit, head to Duosuma.
Prizes:
June 1, 2026
up to 1,000 words of prose / 2 pages of poetry
$10