The Tertiary Lodgers: An Anthology of Secondary Classical Characters

For this anthology we are seeking fiction (only), though it can be historical, contemporary, speculative, literary, hybrid, or you-just-made-it-up, from the FIRST-PERSON (only) points-of-view of secondary, tertiary, or other random bit-part characters from classic public-domain works. We are not seeking work about the main protagonists or antagonists; we’re seeking work told through the eyes of the butlers, maids, cousins, other-women, sisters, neighbors, pets, squires, and lawnboys, no matter how absurd, far-fetched, funny, realistic, sad, traumatic, simple, or complicated. Work must spring from classic public-domain characters, must be in first-person, and ought to be somewhat recognizable. We are not seeking nonfiction or poetry for this anthology. Give us grand. Give us lore and legend, heartbreak and laughter. Make us think. Make us change how we feel about that classic story and its characters forever. Kudos for diversity and awareness of societal, class, racial, gender, and monetary biases during the stories’ original time settings. Kudos for characters that do something; we aren’t as interested in staring at wallpaper or settling into the scenery for 20 pages, and we don’t want you to regurgitate the original source material or storyline in more than a breath or two.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United States

Established in 2019