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By: D'Lane R. Compton (Editor), Amy L. Stone (Editor), 2024, Paperback

Celebrates diverse queer experiences on society’s margins

Outskirts addresses the diverse and intricate aspects of the queer experience on the periphery of the social world. From the Korean spa to the Carnival krewe to new sexual identities, this volume asks important questions about the atypical places, spaces, and identities that are an important part of LGBTQ life in the United States. By bringing together scholars specializing in the less visible facets of queer culture, the book offers valuable insights that contribute to a deeper understanding of queer perspectives and their impact on the discipline of sociology. The volume challenges researchers to focus on diversity and complexity of the queer experience in the fringe to inform larger sociological questions and contribute to the field of sociology. Most simply put: what is it that we learn from studying at the margins?

The essays in Outskirts focus on the influence of place, both physical and virtual, within institutional settings and in situations of placelessness. This attention to non-normative spaces and identities enriches the collective knowledge of LGBTQ experiences and offers a compelling narrative that pushes the boundaries of sociological inquiry and highlights the importance of queer voices on the fringes of society.

The fiction and poetry of Queer Little Nightmares reimagines monsters old and new through a queer lens, subverting the horror gaze to celebrate ideas and identities canonically feared in monster lit. Throughout history, monsters have appeared in popular culture as stand-ins for the non-conforming, the marginalized of society. Pushed into the shadows as objects of fear, revulsion, and hostility, these characters have long conjured fascination and self-identification in the LGBTQ+ community, and over time, monsters have become queer icons.

 In Queer Little Nightmares, creatures of myth and folklore seek belonging and intimate connection, cryptids challenge their outcast status, and classic movie monsters explore the experience of coming into queerness. The characters in these stories and poems—the Minotaur camouflaged in a crowd of cosplayers, a pubescent werewolf, a Hindu revenant waiting to reunite with her lover, a tender-hearted kaiju, a lagoon creature aching for the swimmers above him, a ghost of Pride past—relish their new sparkle in the spotlight. Pushing against tropes that have historically been used to demonize, the queer creators of this collection instead ask: What does it mean to be (and to love) a monster?

Contributors include Amber Dawn, David Demchuk, Hiromi Goto, jaye simpson, Eddy Boudel Tan, and Kai Cheng Thom.

An anthology of nature poetry by queer authors celebrating the natural world and rethinking the nature poem. 

Spanning three centuries, this anthology amplifies and centers LGBTQIA+ voices and perspectives in a collection of contemporary nature poetry. Showcasing over two hundred queer writers from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, Queer Nature offers a new context for and expands upon the canon of nature poetry while also offering new lenses through which to view queerness and the natural world. 

In the introduction, editor Michael Walsh writes that the anthology is “concerned with poems that speak to and about nature as the term is applied in everyday language to queer and trans bodies and identities . . . Queer Nature remains interested in elements, flora, fauna, habitats, homes, and natural forces—literary aspects of the work that allow queer and trans people to speak within their specific cultural and literary histories of the abnormal, the animal, the elemental, and the unnatural.” The anthology features poets including Elizabeth Bishop, Richard Blanco, Kay Ryan, Jericho Brown, Allen Ginsberg, Natalie Diaz, and June Jordan, as well as emerging voices such as Jari Bradley, Alicia Mountain, Eric Tran, and Jim Whiteside.

A revolutionary anthology of essays and dramatic works by contemporary Disabled theatre artists

Rebellious Bodies and Radical Acts brings together some of the most innovative minds working in the realm of Disability theatre today. Through essays, poetry, interviews, and critique, these artists pull back the curtain on the creative process, revealing how they engage in the practice of performance. As Disabled people, their bodies and abilities defy the status quo, lending their exploration of this embodied artform an essential and overlooked perspective.

Each writer brings their expertise as an artist to the task of defining what is most urgent, compelling, and relevant in the ongoing evolution of their artform. The centrepiece of this book is the complete text of Alex Bulmer’s Perceptual Archaeology (or How to Travel Blind), a richly layered exploration of her experiences travelling across differing geographies and unexpected emotional terrain. Other writers share excerpts of their work, including Niall McNeil’s Beauty and the Beast: My Life, Debbie Patterson’s How It Ends, Audrey-Anne Bouchard’s Camille, and more.

These bold artists are pressing in from the margins, demanding a new era in the creation of live performance: one that engages a broader scope of lived experience, one that embraces Disability as opportunity, and one that welcomes the adventure of travelling in the unfamiliar.

Available in accessible digital formats.

By: Erin Marie Lynch (Author), 2023, Paperback

* FINALIST FOR THE 2023 CALIBA GOLDEN POPPY BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY *

Drawing its title from the 1863 Federal Act that banished the Dakota people from their homelands, this remarkable debut collection reckons with the present-day repercussions of historical violence. Through an array of brief lyrics, visual forms, chronologies, and sequences, these virtuosic poems trace a path through the labyrinth of distances and absences haunting the American colonial experiment.

Removal Acts takes its speaker’s fraught methods of accessing the past as both subject and material: family photos, the fragile artifacts of primary documents, and the digital abyss of web browsers and word processors. Alongside studies of two of her Dakota ancestors, Lynch has assembled an intimate record of recovery from bulimia, insisting that self-erasure cannot be separated from the erasures of genocide. In these rigorous, scrutinizing examinations of “removal” in its many forms―as physical displacement, archival absence, Whiteness, and vomit―Lynch has crafted a harrowing portrait of the entwined relationship between the personal and historical. The result is a powerful affirmation of resilience and resolute presence in the face of eradication.

"Whether he is writing poems about growing up gay and Southern Baptist, about playing dress up or with Barbies, about heartache or house cleaning (in this case, they are the same thing), or about what straight people think, Brookshire’s poems are clever, sharp, honest, and deeply felt. Reading his work is like having a heart-to-heart with a friend. The pleasures offered by his wry and witty poetry is nothing short of irresistible."

—Nin Andrews, author of Son of a Bird (Etruscan Press)

28 speeches and reflections from Indigenous leaders around the world

Wisdom for our times, nourishment for our collective, and a pathway forward toward sustainable, interconnected futures

Indigenous worldviews, and the knowledge they confer, are critical for human survival and the wellbeing of future generations. Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcia Narvaez present and discuss 28 powerful excerpted passages from Indigenous leaders, including Mourning Dove, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Winona LaDuke, and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. Accompanied by the authors’ own analyses, each chapter reflects the wisdom of Indigenous worldview precepts like:

* Egalitarian rule versus hierarchical governance
* A fearless trust in the universe, instead of a fear-based culture
* The life-sustaining role of ceremony
* Emphasizing generosity and the greater good instead of pursuing selfish goals and for personal gain
* The laws of nature as the highest rules for living

The authors emphasize our deep need to move away from the dominant Western paradigm--one that dictates we live without strong social purpose, fails to honor the earth as sacred, leads with the head while ignoring the heart, and places individual “rights” over collective responsibility. Restoring the Kinship Worldview is rooted in an Indigenous vision and strong social purpose that sees all life forms as sacred and sentient--that honors the wisdom of the heart, and grants equal standing to rights and responsibilities. All author proceeds from Restoring the Kinship Worldview are donated to Indigenous non-profit organizations working on behalf of Indigenous Peoples.

Inviting readers into a world-sense that expands beyond perceiving and conceiving to experiencing and being, Restoring the Kinship Worldview is a salve for our times, a nourishment for our collective, and a holistic orientation that leads us away from extinction toward an integrated, sustainable future.

By: Quinton Li (Author), 2025, Paperback

Featuring work by Solar Hoàng, Tea Campbell, Enoli Lee, Aidan Sparks, Perla Zul, C.J. Ellison, Olive J. Kelley, H.S. Wolfe, Alice Scott, Ivy L. James, Riley Daemon, Kate Duarte, Andromeda Ruins, Helen Z. Dong, Engel M. Williams, Miranda Jensen, Tien Lee, Alex Harvey-Rivas, Ares Macabre, DC Guevara, Harvey Oliver Baxter, Elise Georgeson, Shepard DiStasio, Bucky A. Wolfe, Jeanea Blair, A.R Zeitler, K.T. Angelo, Casper E. Falls, and Viktor E. Grace Lang.

A collection of stories, poetry and non-fiction dedicated to the divine.

Divinity exists in everything. Divinity exists everywhere.

In the past, present and future. In the miniscule and the grand. From fantastical realms and worlds of depth to what lives and suffers in our very own reality. From the gods above, to the girl sitting by your side. Divine.

It's all divine. And this anthology is but a capsule of what divinity means in the interpretations and eyes of these authors.

This anthology is for mature audiences due to themes and explicit content.

Through a series of short stories full of vivid descriptions and sometimes sharp-witted dark humor, “Saturday Night in Savannah” explores the trials and tribulations of a transplanted coming out process of the author.

Mark’s journey begins with excitement—an opportunity to escape the harsh winters of Minneapolis and embrace a new life steeped in the exotic mystique of a Southern city. At first glance, Savannah’s genteel facade seems inviting, but as Mark attempts to navigate this new landscape, he encounters ignorance, prejudices and downright homophobia.

But there is also camaraderie. Central to this story is Mark’s circle of acquaintances, each representing different facets of the gay experience in the South. Just a few of these include Richard, his exuberant best friend who serves as Mark’s guide, introducing him to both the glamorous and grungy aspects of Savannah’s nightlife. Their escapades are both hilarious and poignant. Then there’s Mr. H, the ostentatious socialite whose world is laced with class and privilege but still loves to entertain the boys. Then there’s Malik, whose experiences highlight the intersection of race and sexuality, as he navigates a landscape where acceptance is often contingent on social status and skin color. Finally, there’s the “prim and proper Savannah ladies,” whose clandestine pursuits reveal the hidden desires and rebellions that simmer beneath the surface of polite society.

But again, these are only a few of the fascinating characters that emerge in this memoir of mostly gay based short stories. It’s an entertaining yet thought provoking read of Gay life in the South during an era where social acceptance of LGBTQ+ lifestyles still had quite a ways to go.

Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature.

“[Lorde's] works will be important to those truly interested in growing up sensitive, intelligent, and aware.”—The New York Times 

In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope. This commemorative edition includes a new foreword by Lorde-scholar and poet Cheryl Clarke, who celebrates the ways in which Lorde's philosophies resonate more than twenty years after they were first published.

These landmark writings are, in Lorde's own words, a call to “never close our eyes to the terror, to the chaos which is Black which is creative which is female which is dark which is rejected which is messy which is . . . ”

By: Padraig Regan (Author), 2022, Paperback

Winner of the Clarissa Luard Prize 2021 In 'Minty,' one of the typically charged and capacious poems in this eagerly-awaited debut collection, a mojito glass reflects: whatever grid of bricks & wood makes up the room we happen to be sitting in is dilated & wrapped around a single focal-point; whatever portion of the sky that happens to be visible through the window becomes a convex bowl. The weather also happens, as it always does, & passes on, & brings those other places where it falls into the orbit of the glass. 'To look up from Padraig Regan's words is to find oneself gently re-fitted into the world,' writes Vahni Capideo, praising Padraig Regan's 'awesome originality and honesty.' The poems of Some Integrity bring something new to the Irish lyric tradition. Queerness is a way of looking, a perspective, grounded in an awareness of the porous and provisional nature of our bodies. The book's social encounters and exchanges, its responses to the work of artists, its figures in a landscape, and its considerations of food and desire work as capsule narratives and as an exhilarating extension of that lyric tradition.

A Finalist for a 2025 NAACP Image Award (Outstanding Literary Work - Poetry)

The raw poems inside Song of My Softening study the ever-changing relationship with oneself, while also investigating the relationship that the world and nation has with Black queerness. Poems open wide the questioning of how we express both love and pain, and how we view our bodies in society, offering themselves wholly, with sharpness and compassion.

Discover the captivating allure of the Deep South through the haunting and powerful verses of one of today's most accomplished poets.

Southern Bred is a haunting, powerful collection of gothic poems that captivate and transport the reader into the heart and soul of the Deep South. Each poem offers a glimpse into its mystery and enchantment, drawing you in with a blend of beauty and darkness. In the style of a memoir in verse, it showcases Ghigna's southern soul and his tender, yet piercing language, and affirms his place as one of the finest poets of our time.

Edited by: Tom Mack and Andrew Geyer, 2024, Paperback

In his introduction to this Southern poetry anthology, Tom Mack says, "There is no exact English equivalent for the Spanish word querencia, but some translate the term to mean 'the place where a person is their most authentic self.' For the fifty contemporary poets in this unique volume, that place is the American South, from the East Coast to the Ozarks." Andrew Geyer adds that the poet-contributors to this volume "have each put their own unique spin on what makes the South to be what it is at this moment, in the year 2024, almost a quarter of the way through the new century unfolding around us...in a variety of forms and on an amazing array of subjects--all the corners of this continually evolving region including its flora, fauna, cultural idiosyncrasies, dark history, and distinctive cuisines."

Southwest Reconstruction is Raquel Gutiérrez's debut poetry collection, a disquieting journey through the uncharted dreamspace of memory and loss, expulsion and shelter, family and recognition. Enacting an eclectic range of forms and echoes drawn from the relational complexities that occupy the difficult terrains of unceded land; these are critical improvisations of creation and closures of the imperceptible sense of displacement, and the interconnecting routes that map the vastness of desire to belong. Divided into three sections, the vocal registers in Southwest Reconstruction act as the noisy divining rod for both kinship and ancestral communication; a sonic brown butch vernacular strumming notes out of sorrow and mettle. Written over the course of almost ten years in the Southern Arizona landscape, these poems function as a psychic Thomas Guide diving into the wreck of settler logics looming large in the rearview mirror of mestizaje and the mythological ruptures left in their wake.