I finished the Sealey Challenge!!

wrapping up my first successful Sealey Challenge, trans/literary links, & Labor Day thoughts

Hello hello. It is September! The high is only 101 Fahrenheit today! We made it, y’all!

I had a 24-hour bug thing yesterday. When it’s not one thing it’s another: the anthem of adulthood. I did read an incredible chapbook with my partner¹ while laying on the couch, because I’ll be damned if I mess up my Sealey Challenge ON THE LAST DAY. No thank you, universe! So let’s get into (almost) everything we read August 22nd through 31st! You can find week 1, week 2, and week 3 in the archive.

• DADDY ISSUES by Sal Kang - I love this chapbook! The title (and gorgeous cover) say it all. These poems are about family dynamics, tenuous girlhood, kink, and sexuality. A must read for your stack of trans masc chapbooks.

• A Flamboyance by Jasper Joyner - speaking of must read trans masc chapbooks! You need to read this yesterday! Fun, funny, and playful with form, this book has so much heart. I keep thinking about this line from “On Time”: “What if our worth has nothing to do with what we do at all?”

• sad boy/detective by sam sax - I think I first read this chapbook last year. I loved it then but loved it a lot more this time around. The whole book is a sequence of sonnets about boy detective reckoning with queerness and a hostile world.

• I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times by Taylor Byas - so excited to get this book in the mail last week!! Byas is incredible at making formal poetry relevant to present-day. Her music is unmatched. I definitely want to reread this soon— the Sealey Challenge is a tough time to read full-length books!

• Vintage Sadness by Hanif Abdurraqib - Abdurraqib has been one of my favorite essayists ever since I started writing. I was so excited for my partner to read him for the first time! These poems, like other works in Abdurraqib’s catalog, are situated in music. When will my heart not break because of a line of his? (In this case, “I wish you a chorus of leaves. Piled to whatever is left of your eyes. Whatever the sky hasn’t taken.” absolutely destroyed me.)

• Space Baby by Tate Oquendo - we had a lot of fun with this one. Visceral, messy, queer, destructive. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a sci fi poetry chap before, but now I want more. The commitment to both genres was impressive and also immersive. (The ebook is free, btw!)

• there is an earth after innocence by andrea lianne grabowski - this! book! I have a review forthcoming-ish, so I’ll save some of my thoughts. These poems are erasures and reimaginings of Christian rock songs from a queer perspective. I was incredibly moved and inspired by this collection. The author’s note at the end was especially powerful. “i realized punk isn’t just an aesthetic, it’s a resistance to all forms of oppression, bigotry, and control” — absolutely!

• Autobiography of a Semiromantic Anarchist by mónica teresa ortiz - last but certainly not least. ortiz is one of the first poets I read in college whose words felt like true kinship. Queer, Tejane, and radical, this is the book I choose to take with me to the end of the world. I keep thinking about this line: “Save nostalgia for white folks pining for a past before we tore down bronze monuments honoring the white men that killed us.” (And, this ebook is free, too, so what are you waiting for?)

I can’t believe I actually finished the challenge for once. I think we might have to make our own rules such as “chapbooks only” because WOW I am tired! It’s a weird balance when reading and writing is the main component of all my paid gigs and unpaid passions.

Some trans and/or literary links and things:

• This article by Niko Stratis for Paste, “Always the Topic, Rarely the Voice”

  • “If you want to look at who was challenging gender, look to the battlegrounds not the amphitheater” !!

• Epiphany’s Fresh Voices Fellowship for BIPOC without a creative writing degree is open for submission!

• Consider supporting the Frances Thompson Writers Studio For Black Trans Study

• Normally at this time of the month, I’m reminding you all of the name change microgrant from trans lifeline. Sadly, they are unable to open applications this month. Please do consider donating to these lovely folks as well.

• Foglifter is open for submissions from all queer+ folks

  • the Start a Riot! chapbook prize is also open to QTPOC from the Bay Area!

• Don’t forget to apply for the next Roots. Wounds. Words. virtual retreat!

• Abode Press is open for submissions! Send your poetry, prose, & hybrid chapbooks! Fee waivers are available for queer/trans writers of color.

• I’m teaching a workshop next Wednesday, September 6th. Join me for Writing Queer and Trans Joy. Writers of all levels and genres are welcome. You can register and find the full description here. I can’t wait!!

• I’m reading at BookWoman in Austin on October 12th! Registration and more info here.

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Before I sign off for a long Labor Day weekend that is not long for my partner nor many other (mostly marginalized!) folks in this country, I’m going to share some lefty thoughts I’ve been having.

You don’t need to be an expert on theory to be a leftist. For a few reasons, I was (still am) scared of theory because of its inaccessibility. I arrived at leftism when I realized there was language for the conclusions my lived experiences gave me. I didn’t need to read a book to understand that my people were/are hurting. I have known some (mostly white) leftists who are quite elitist about “theory this” “theory that” while showing no compassion or care towards anyone in their community. (If you’ve ever been a person of color in a mostly white leftist space, you know what I’m talking about— so many micro(and macro)aggressions wrapped up in a progressive blanket!)

But as we’ve seen with the Swiftification of feminism, it’s important to actually know what we’re talking about. Especially if you are among the more privileged in your community, whether that be in terms of race, class, disability, etc. Not knowing what you’re talking about hurts the movement. This is why I choose to be a reader and writer. Reader first. You can never know all you don’t know. Writer second. Shared knowledge is powerful. It’s so terrifying to fascists that our libraries and school districts are being attacked!

I guess what I’m saying is, I’m careful about what leftist spaces I engage in. For instance, when someone says they are anti-[blank] without saying what they are pro, it’s a slight red flag for me. You better care about BIPOC more than you dislike the racists. You better love trans people more than you hate TERFs. You better have at least some goal beyond capitalism, because nothing is scarier to me as a queer disabled person of color than anarchism.²

What I dislike more than uninformed leftists saying harmful nonsense, is pointless infighting.³ I write all this not to contribute to said infighting, but to clarify how I approach my politics and my career as a writer. The two will always be intertwined. There’s not just one way towards liberation, but this is my imperfect path towards it, and I thought I’d shed some light on it.

So friends, I hope all essential workers, educators, caretakers, and other laborers have a lovely weekend with minimal stress. Unionize. Support strikers. Don’t cross picket lines, don’t scab. It’s okay, radical even, to lean on your community when you need it. If you have Monday off, remember the reason for the holiday, and don’t forget about those who don’t have the choice to take the day off.

<3

You may have noticed that I recently added a paid option for this newsletter. Subscriptions help me continue doing the freelance/poet thing while also being trans and disabled. Plus, if you subscribe as a founding member, I’ll send you a zine grab bag!

That said, trans poetica will always always remain free. I do this because I love writing and connecting with likeminded folks. “From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.” Thanks for reading this far down!

1. if you’re new here, we have a disgustingly adorable routine of reading together and swapping books every other day

2. not all anarchism! but certain brands of it… are clearly just racist libertarianism?

3. like, truly pointless. I’m all for productive discourse, and calling out those who need it