Now accepting submissions for BOTH SIDES: An Anthology of Border Noir, edited by Gabino Iglesias

Polis Books is thrilled to announce BOTH SIDES: An Anthology of Border Noir, edited by Bram Stoker Award nominee Gabino Iglesias. Agora Books, the new imprint dedicated to publishing diverse voices in crime fiction, will release BOTH SIDES in 2020.

From Gabino Iglesias:

La frontera is full of stories. Real stories, not those Trump makes up. The border is a powerful place where countries collide. It’s a weird space of dreams, struggles, promises, lies, fear, and redemption. It’s a multicultural and bilingual space where people know that hustling to protect your loved ones or offer them a better life is a drive strong enough to blur ethical codes. Sadly, the border is also a place where drugs make people a lot of money, corruption stains everything, and violence fills the landscape with danger and ghosts. In ZERO SAINTS, I wrote this: “What happens when you cross la frontera is that you shatter, you stop being you and turn into a new person that belongs nowhere, that has no home, no roots. Going back is impossible and moving forward is like jumping into a cave and hoping that it’s not too deep, that the rocks don’t mangle you too much, and that el monstruo that waits for you en la oscuridad is not too hungry.” Now I want some of the most talented authors to visit this space from their perspective. I want them to show the world what they see on both sides. It’s time to give border noir the attention it deserves.

Here are the details:

What I want: A short pitch. One hundred words will do. Let me know what you’re planning.

What I don’t want: narratives about how bad immigration is for our country or stories from folks who only learned about la Mara Salvatrucha when they showed up in the news recently. 

Word count: 5,000-7,000 words, but we can talk about it if you’re over or under.

Payment: $75.00 per story.

Deadline: Pitches are due by April 1st, 2019. If your pitch is accepted, your story will be due by July 1, 2019.

BOTH SIDES will be published in 2020 by Agora, the new imprint from Polis Books. I’m very happy to be working with Polis Books/Agora on this. Now put your thoughts together and send me a line. Submissions should be sent to BorderNoirStories@gmail.com. Some amazing authors are already in, so there are a limited number of spaces left. Get to it. –Gabino

About Gabino Iglesias

Gabino Iglesias is the author of COYOTE SONGS, ZERO SAINTS, and GUTMOUTH. He is the book reviews editor at PANK Magazine, the TV/film editor at Entropy Magazine, and a columnist for LitReactor and CLASH Media. His nonfiction has appeared in places like The New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Los Angeles Times, El Nuevo Día, and other venues. His reviews are published in venues like NPR, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Criminal Element, The Rumpus, Heavy Feather Review, Atticus Review, Entropy, HorrorTalk, Necessary Fiction, Crimespree, and more. He teaches at SNHU's MFA program. Follow him at @Gabino_Iglesias.