#qtpoc writer

[orangejuicegarage]

As the world hugs me slow it catches it’s calloused yarn on the thorny cocoon I forged myself in. It peels it back to expose translucent wings that smell of microwaved rice and hold like amber.

My form is temporary, empty by design, it serves to be seen but not held.

What unsanctimonious form would I take if I did not self-serve to meld to involuntary mirrors out of fear of my own nature?

Sacrifice expectations poolside. The aqua is healing, its home; it's simply the stagecoach to finality.

I find myself faceless in the face of loneliness, there are no mirrors left for me in a tarnishing castle.

May I dare to evolve my amber to silver. May I look back over my shoulder and know who I am becoming.

--

silver // in adulthood I find that friendship comes every few months or so

[smittybuckler]

please

lie to me

tell me

everything is going to be ok

lie to me

tell me

you love me

tell me

you like me

lie to me

tell me my life

has value

lie to me

and tell me

not to die

[madsolar]

i need more queer trans bipoc poets and artists to follow !!!! pls !!!!!!

[papenathys]

hello! i saw you talk abt queer desi literature and was wondering if by any chance you know of some queer tamil novel/literature recommendations? totally fine if not, have a great day<3

These are the only ones coming to mind, it's a bit difficult tracking down primarily own voices writing in South Asian queer literature:

The Truth About Me: A Hijra Story by A. Revathi (non fiction, memoir, trans fem author) – this one is a really detailed and powerful story about a Tamil actor and activist who fled her home as a teen and joined a hijra community. it's obviously rather depressing, and not exactly a story of queer joy, because it depicts the lived reality of Indian trans women outside of the urban queer elites, but it's also an incredible story.

Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai (fiction, historical, gay author) – a novel about a gay Tamil boy growing up during the 1980s phase of the Sri Lankan Civil war. full disclosure, insofar as my knowledge goes, Selvadurai identifies as Sri Lankan-Canadian (his father was Tamil) and I'm fully aware of how the 2020 Deepa Mehta movie adaptation controversy worsened things, but I took this recommendation from an LGBTQ Tamil blog online. I did not particularly enjoy Cinnamon Gardens by the same author, tbh.

Hungry Humans by Karichan Kunju (fiction, novel, historical) – first published in 1977, it deals with two Tamil characters, one of whom is grappling with homosexuality, greed, consuming desire and abuse trauma. I have not read this book, with full transparency, and the reviews are very mixed, with some Tamil reviewers saying that while the themes explored are compelling, the writing and authorial stances feel a bit dated, especially on issues of caste.

Siren's Desire by Samirah the Sapphic Siren (poetry, sapphic author)– this is a poetry collection by a Tamil Dravidian sapphic visual artist and poet that centres brown QTPOC as bodies who actively desire, and are not just passive objects tokenized for their desirability. Tackles themes of intersectional queerness, colorism, and healing from trauma. Btw you can directly support Samirah here (shop link) and here (patr30n), as well as on instagram (@/thesapphicsiren).

The First Beautiful Woman In The World by Leena Manimekalai (poetry, bisexual sapphic author)– this is a bisexual poetry collection by a Tamil writer, activist and director who has created several works depicting trans and/or queer identities in an Indian Tamil societal context. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find English translations of her works; she has more than one sapphic poetry collection apparently, but I could not track a single work down online (if any Tamil followers can help out it will be great!). you should follow her on Instagram nevertheless and support artists who vocally support the voices of marginalized communities and resist alt-right fascist censorship.

[niaking]

My books are on sale for pride season. Usually $20 each, you can get all three volumes of Queer & Trans Artists of Color for only $50 (and free shipping) until the end of June. These books include interviews with Janet Mock, Julio Salgado, Vivek Shraya and more! Get the discount here. Full listing of interviewees below the break.

VOLUME ONE (2014) ​CO-EDITED BY TERRA MIKALSON & JESSICA GLENNON-ZUKOFF

Mixed-race queer art activist Nia King left a full-time job in an effort to center her life around making art. Grappling with questions of purpose, survival, and compromise, she started a podcast called We Want the Airwaves in order to pick the brains of fellow queer and trans artists of color about their work, their lives, and “making it” - both in terms of success and in terms of survival.

In this collection of interviews, Nia discusses fat burlesque with MAGNOLIAH BLACK, queer fashion with KIAM MARCELO JUNIO, interning at Playboy with JANET MOCK, dating gay Latino Republicans with JULIO SALGADO, intellectual hazing with KORTNEY RYAN ZIEGLER, gay gentrification with VAN BINFA, getting a book deal with VIRGIE TOVAR, the politics of black drag with MICIA MOSELY, evading deportation with YOSIMAR REYES, weird science with RYKA AOKI, gay public sex in Africa with NICK MWALUKO, thin privilege with FABIAN ROMERO, the tyranny of “self-care” with LOVEMME CORAZÓN, “selling out” with MISS PERSIA and DADDIE$ PLA$TIK, the self-employed art-activist hustle with LEAH LAKSHMI PIEPZNA-SAMARASINHA, and much, much more. Buy book one here.

VOLUME TWO (2016) ​CO-EDITED BY ELENA ROSE

Building on the groundbreaking first volume, Queer and Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives, Nia King is back with a second archive of interviews from her podcast We Want the Airwaves. She maintains her signature frankness as an interviewer while seeking advice on surviving capitalism from creative folks who often find their labor devalued.

In this collection of interviews, Nia discusses biphobia in gay men’s communities with JUBA KALAMKA, helping border-crossers find water in the desert with MICHA CÁRDENAS, trying to preserve Indigenous languages through painting with GRACE ROSARIO PERKINS, revolutionary monster stories with ELENA ROSE, using textiles to protest police violence with INDIRA ALLEGRA, trying to respectfully reclaim one’s own culture with AMIR RABIYAH, taking on punk racism with MIMI THI NGUYEN, the imminent trans women of color world takeover with LEXI ADSIT, queer life in WWII Japanese American incarceration camps with TINA TAKEMOTO, hip-hop and Black Nationalism with AJUAN MANCE, making music in exile with MARTÍN SORRONDEGUY, issue-based versus identity-based organizing with TRISH SALAH, ten years of curating and touring with the QTPOC arts organization Mangos With Chili with CHERRY GALETTE, raising awareness about gentrification through games with MATTIE BRICE, self-publishing versus working with a small press with VIVEK SHREYA, and the colonial nature of journalism school with KILEY MAY. The conversation continues. Buy book two here.

VOLUME THREE (2019) ​CO-EDITED BY MALIHA AHMED

Is it possible to make art and make rent without compromising your values? Nia King set out to answer this question when she started We Want the Airwaves podcast in 2013. In her Queer & Trans Artists of Color book series, Nia collects podcast interviews — with Black, Latinx, Asian, Middle Eastern and Indigenous LGBTQ writers, musicians and visual artists — which feature both incredible storytelling and practical advice.

In the latest installment of the Queer & Trans Artists of Color series, Nia discusses performing at the White House with VENUS SELENITE, the global nature of colorism with KAMAL AL-SOLAYLEE, writing for Marvel Comics with GABBY RIVERA, using lies to tell unspeakable truths with KAI CHENG THOM, Black mental health with ANTHONY J. WILLIAMS, curating diverse anthologies with JOAMETTE GIL, growing up trans in rural Idaho with MEY RUDE, covering crime as a baby-faced reporter with SAM LEVIN, feminist approaches to journalism with SARAH LUBY BURKE, documenting Black punk history with OSA ATOE, crossing color lines with QWO-LI DRISKILL, fat hairy brown goddesses with PARADISE KHANMALEK, the usefulness of anger with JIA QING WILSON-YANG, transitioning as death and rebirth with ARIELLE TWIST, surviving homelessness and touring the world with STAR AMERASU and much, much more. Buy book three here.

[appolsaucy]

A dear friend runs an amazing qtpoc-focused massage/bodywork business. They've witnessed just how difficult and terrifying it can be specifically for transfemmes in the bodywork field, and are hoping to boost their intern's gofundme below.

Signal boosts v welcome.🖤

[lemursandsirens]

i keep wanting to see me

keep wanting to meet me

keep seeing glimpses, a hue, a sheen of that person

still disconnected from the “who”

but i see the focus 

i see the hyper awareness of this “new”

and i see the way you’re repelled

by this layer you’ve ordained as dirt

so i’ll scrub again

cleanse again

to dissolve the glimpses of me

for a few days at least

this constant pruning 

leads to regrowth

and you wouldn’t prune suddenly visible roots

of an old tree

so acquiesce

sooner rather than later

i don’t want glimpses anymore

[mannakigubat]

•

"i admire your resiliency," said a longtime friend, who has witnessed me rise from four soul shattering ruptures in the last decade.

"wow, thanks for the affirmation. i hardly think i'm resilient, mostly just foolish," i reply, with a sarcastic laugh mixed with a twinge of shame bubbling in my chest.

"you are resilient though. how do you remember who you are? how do you return to yourself after unbearable heartbreak?" they ask. i hear them crying along with the evening rain, grieving the end of their partnership.

"never abandon yourself ever again," i answer with a magnitude of unwavering certainty.

--

you will read poetry and sob with monsoons, thinking nobody can hear you

you will learn to cook breakfast without weeping every morning

you will wash your laundry with bitterness and sleep among piles of resentment for days on end

every song will remind you of what used to be and you will make music to write your new chapters

one day, when you least expect it, you will enjoy solitude without crumpling to the floor

'til then, ella&louis and chet baker are your favorites, as you stare at the popcorn ceiling

you will fall in love for only five minutes, with a stranger on the dance floor who makes you feel desirable again

you will wake up, just a little, each time the breeze brushes your cheek and you will remember that you have a body

pluck plumerias and run their petals along your skin to cure your touch starvation

because even though you crave to be held by another, you cannot rest in any arms just yet

you are tired, jaded and cautious. yet open and curious--over and over

you become specific and particular, with a list of the highest compatible qualities you seek in your future life partner

but no amount of non-negotiables will ever fully prepare you for when you suddenly feel sparks again

it will feel like such a surprise when your heart starts unfolding again

give yourself gratitude for how remarkably expansive you are

trust that you will not fall so easily in a flurry of passion, but rather steadily and certainly

you will love more practically and stronger each time

knowing that what you need is a warm, cosmic, boundless and inspiring love

a love that is deliberate, reliable, forgiving, gracious, compassionate and beyond

but most of all, you will know that you must take care of yourself first

you will choose someone who matches your frequency and divine timing

someone who is equally committed to never abandoning themselves

you will be mirrors for one another

you will choose each other every night and morning

knowing that it is possible to live an abundant life together

knowing it takes tenacious love and collaboration

you will build new worlds together

a risk worth taking

a resiliency that is admirable and never foolish

•

[orangejuicegarage]

I am; Standing in my kitchen eating Schatt’s cheese bread Hip against warm tile As Willem Verbeek takes pictures of places I want to be in

I am; Living on dead time As my parents re watch the same movie for the twentieth time in the room next door The nail polish cracks almost immediately these days My hair curls at the base instead of the root A medium lemonade at wienerschnitzel is $3.69

I am; Pulling the strands apart until they’re as thin as a thread I stitch my buttons back on lopsided but it’s fine that way It’s better that way When things are put back together the wrong way Kintsugi cracks map the history of tearshed until their inevitable valleys open their eyes

Jump over the gorge with your taffy pulled legs Follow the current with your fingertips and become the sky

--

something simple for a Thursday night

[compo67]

My car needs a bunch of repairs... 

My car is a 2003 Honda with 193,000 miles on it. I bought it 5 years ago when it had 134,000 miles on it, and it has never failed me. I call him Sam. He’s the man of my dreams. 

I haven’t needed to do repairs since about 2016. A very generous reader at that time gave me the money to cover the cost of new brakes. 

This year, I’m up against new brakes, new shocks, new tires, and a new part related to the muffler (I’m not a mechanic, I just write one in fic). This was the receipt for 1 new brake pad set and 2 new front rotors. 

I’m working part-time because of my transplant/liver issues, RA flare ups, and struggles with depression/anxiety. So money is super tight. My dad lost his job, then retired, and I’m helping with as much as I can on what I make. But there was no way I would have been able to do this for Sam without the help of y’all. 

Shout out of sincerest gratitude to the folks on Patreon and to y’all here who spread the word about my writing. The money I made illustrating for a zine, plus this month’s Patreon, went directly to fixing the front brakes. 

Sam needs about $500.00 more in repairs, and my dad is buying 2/4 new tires for my birthday present. Any money from Patreon in the next three months will go straight to helping Sam live his best life, because I really need him. This is how I get to my transplant appointments, my imaging appointments, therapy, PT, OT, acupuncture, the pharmacy, etc. 

And even though he’s an old guy, Sam has a few years in him left. If you’d like to help Sam and myself, I have a Patreon and/or PayPal. Reblogs help. Let your friends in fandom know about the 1.1 million words I have published on AO3. 

So thank you. Thank you all so much. For everything always. Thanks for reading, for reblogging, for likes, for kudos, for comments, for supporting your fandom authors in their every day lives. A lot of work goes into producing content--fic, fan art, etc. and all this support keeps me going.

Thank you again. <3

-Cal

AO3 + Patreon 

[librarycards]

hihi, i work in a public library & m always seeking new (to me) books & writers! i read largely magical realism & specfic w the occasional litfic (most recently Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr!) & plenty of poetry by qtpoc whose imagery gets called “weird”, trying to avoid repetition of titles i’ve seen in ur already answered asks, here r some books/authors i love:

Past Lives, Future Bodies & Gods of Want (everything, rlly, but emphasis on the short stories & poetry) by K-Ming Chang

Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi (particularly for the sense of utter existential dread it left me)

M Archive by Alexis Pauline Gumbs (hybrid forms <3)

Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde

& Jamie Berrout’s entire bibliography

tyty!!! p.s. just bc i can imagine them being clear connections to make, i also already know & cherish Akwaeke Emezi’s & Rivers Solomon’s books!

given that you're a library professional, i'm going to focus on un(der)known books with relatively little buzz! hopefully this might inspire you to order some of these or maybe find a new hidden gem :)

Niki Tulk, O.

Jesi Bender, Kinderkrankenhaus

Keely Shinners, How to Build a Home for the End of the World

Mairead Case, Tiny

Jay Besemer, The Ways of the Monster

Marwa Helal, Ante Body

Precious Okoyomon, Ajebota

i also have a book (forthcoming in aug., but I have ARCs/pre-orders open now!) you may like :3

there are other books I could rec, but I trust you've seen them in my other asks or know about many of them already!

[b-a-pigeon]

✨Support a low-income QTPOC author on their birthday!✨

Hi, I’m B! I’m queer, trans, neurodivergent, & multiracial. I'm also an indie author who writes contemporary/low fantasy, featuring adult LGBTQ characters & characters of color; at the moment, my writing is my only source of income.

I'm turning 28 on November 29th, and all I want for my birthday is support for my writing career to help me pay my rent 🖤 Here’s how you can help!

Pay for my writing (link includes summaries + purchase links) | Become a patron | Buy me a coffee!

If you don’t have $$ to spare but want to support, you can reblog this post; find my mailing list & other social media on linktree; and leave me a review if you’ve read my work.

Thank you so much for your support in whatever form that takes!

[naetorious]

Healing and Housing for Kofi

Healing and Housing for Kofi

Good evening folx, so much has shifted for me since the creation of this blog. I had really elaborate plans of doing a Sunday series on soul food for thought, an intention to create and post more music, as well as plans to get my online store up and running. All of these desire were thwarted by mold poisoning, a mystery illness that completely debilitated me for a year and a half. Now that I’ve…

[poetsandwriters]

Zeyn Joukhadar, author of Thirty Names of Night (Atria Books, 2020), in the latest installment of “Ten Questions.”

[thesophiewhit]

Someone saw my writing and went: “I don’t read for gay and trans rep. I read for BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS”.

Oop. I’m sorry. We do exist though babe. Believe it. And I’ll keep writing about us.

Bye y’all. From now on, I identify as -fictional- with an absolutely magical character arc byeeeee ✨✨

[womanistgrrrl]

Happy Black Herstory Month Beloveds! 🎊  ✊🏿 🎊

I hope we are loving, healing and being in solidarity with Black progressives in our lives. 🌺

In the spirit of BHM and Palindrome Day (02-02-2020), I'm excited to announce the release of my book “D1 L1F3 0F 1 B153XU4L BL4CK (B1BL) B10L0G15T.” 

This is a book about Iboro Itoro. Iboro Itoro is an undocumented, bisexual, Black woman who is determined to survive in a society that constantly dehumanizes people like her. Although her determination does not shield her from the difficulties that come with being undocumented, bisexual, or Black, it gives her the courage to leave San Isabella in search of something better when there's nothing left for her there. This is a story about heartbreak and hope.

I will like to thank the undocumented Black writers at the first Undocumented Black Convening, my Black womanist/feminist friends, and the many progressive Black/Brown/Asian QTs in Detroit who believed in me and supported me throughout this journey. I am because we are.

I will also like to thank everyone reading this who will support my writing either through a purchase (http://themarket.storenvy.com/), or inviting me to speak at your school, panel, conference, or organization. I appreciate every one of you. Also, if you are unable to purchase thee book because of financial difficulties, send me a message and I will send you a free copy.

Lastly, (because of the encouragements of a beloved friend who believes in me) I will be hosting a book release party at my home on 02-22-2020. If you'd like to turn up with me, talk about the intersections of Blackness, Queerness, Woman-ness, and Migration, and rage against racism, patriarchy, queerphobia, and xenophobia, send me a message and I'll share the details of the book release party with you.

Although I'm hosting a party and this post is celebratory, I'm truly terrified about the future, but I'm fighting to keep my hope alive and remain somewhat optimistic. So, let's be terrified and somewhat optimistic together.

Sending y'all major love and warmth as we grieve, grow, hurt, and heal. We deserve the very best. We deserve to survive and thrive. 💕

With love,

Adilah Didi Adi (Dee WoministGRRRL)