new words press — Citizen Trans {project}: Trans Voices in Trump America

Overview
The Citizen Trans {project}, an initiative of new words {press}, emerges from a specific historical moment: the aftermath of an election that has intensified hostility toward trans* communities. The editors frame this as a call to witness—not merely to publish, but to archive the interior and exterior realities of living through a period they describe as anti-trans. The project positions writing as an act of persistence, a means to 'shed light, to truth tell, to burn.' The curatorial model is deliberately non-competitive. There is no voting process; work that aligns with the theme is published online, with new pieces added weekly. This removes the scarcity logic of traditional literary contests and instead builds a cumulative record. Each contributor may submit one piece—poetry, short prose (fiction or nonfiction, including journal entries, essays, or spells), or visual art. Prose is capped at 500 words, a constraint that favors compression and precision. AI-generated work is not accepted. The project is open to anyone identifying as trans* or gender-expansive in any way. There is no fee to submit. The theme is explicitly post-election writing, and the editors invite the full range of emotional response: tears, rage, hope, hopelessness. The only exclusion is hate speech, evaluated case by case. In scope and structure, the Citizen Trans {project} functions as both a literary outlet and a living archive, one that prioritizes immediacy and inclusion over gatekeeping.