Authors of Color

The original Authors of Color Tumblr Blog. This blog was created to celebrate writers of color and to showcase their work as well as to promote up incoming writers. This blog is also here to share personal experiences PoC (People of Color) have in the writing industry. This is a safe space for PoC.

[celeryjiaozi]

“你要替思琪上大学，念研究所，谈恋爱，结婚，生小孩，也许会被退学，也许会离婚，也许会死胎，但是，思琪连那种最庸俗、呆钝、刻板的人生都没有办法经历。你懂吗？你要经历并牢牢记住她所有的思想，思绪，感情，感觉，记忆与幻想，她的爱，讨厌，恐惧，失重，荒芜，柔情和欲望，你要紧紧拥抱着思琪的痛苦，你可以变成思琪，然后，替她活下去，连思琪的分一起好好地活下去。You must go to college for Si-qi, go on to postgraduate studies, fall in love, get married, have children for her. Perhaps you’ll drop out, perhaps you’ll get divorced, perhaps your child will die before birth. But Si-qi will not even have the chance to experience the most ordinary, dull, stereotypical parts of human life. Do you understand? You must experience and remember all of her thoughts, emotions, feelings, memories, and fantasies, her love, hate, fear, her vertigo and loneliness, desire and tenderness. You must hold on tightly to Si-qi’s pain. You can turn into her, and then, live on for her. Take what was taken from her, and live well.”

— 林奕含. “房思琪的初恋乐园”

[authorofcolor]

The Landscape Has No Doors - The Paris Review

“I often think about my time back in the psychiatric hospital.”

[havingapoemwithyou]

Poems from Palestine | The Baffler

A series of poems from Palestine, curated by the poet and translators Fady Joudah and Lena Tuffaha.

A series of poems from Palestine, curated by the poet and translators Fady Joudah and Lena Tuffaha.

[demonprincex]

please would you consider boosting this Devon

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchCH5p06f5uBfDl0itkUArt2vourrnuJPHUyTzJfjOgKbR_A/viewform

Gendereveal $1000 grants for trans POC projects and activism international

Sure! Follow the link and apply to get some $$, trans artists of color!

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

WRITING / PUBLISHING CONTEST [not affiliated with me]

OutWrite Chapbook Competition

OutWrite is a celebration of LGBT literature, held annually the first weekend in August in Washington, D.C. They want chapbook submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Entries that explore aspects of LGBTQ culture or identity are encouraged. Thematically-linked works are encouraged, but not required. There are no limitations regarding genre. Manuscripts have to be 20-40 pages. Value: 25 copies of their winning chapbook, an offer of print publication from Neon Hemlock Press Deadline: 15 June 2021 Open for: Unspecified Details here.

[librarycards]

I'm managing editor at Stone of Madness Press, and for our 11th issue, curating a selection of new/emerging writers, including teen/high school writers (with 3 or fewer publications, not including personal blogs). Submissions are open now through May 15th.

If you're queer/trans/disabled/Mad/ND and you've always wanted to submit to a literary magazine but never gotten around to it –– whether you've been intimidated by the process or simply not aware –– this is a great time to try it! Don't worry about getting everything "right," just check out our guidelines and send your words to the email listed.

Submissions are always free, and we also have a $5 option for feedback or a 24-hr turnaround time. Unfortunately, we can't afford to pay writers, though we plan to begin doing so by the end of 2021 (!!).

Get in touch on here or via the magazine email with questions and concerns, and please feel free to share this with new writers you know!

[gay-nidoking]

With NaNoWriMo starting, I thought now is a good time to advertise my writing server again! The Forge is an all-ages server run by and for LGBTIA+/queer writers and writers of color. We're a small (30+ members) laidback community with a variety of channels including writing sprints, critique channels, a place to find beta or sensitivity readers. We have frequent writing discussions (as close to daily as possible), server events every other month, and biweekly writing challenges!

The Forge has a ton of roles and activities, and role-specific channels for poc, lgbtia+/queer folks, adults, and minors. We welcome everyone, but the intention is that lgbtia+/queer voices and voices of color are uplifted.

You can join here, or dm me if you have questions!

[revolutionarykoolaid]

Toni Morrison, a Nobel Laurete, an icon of the literary world, and an elder in the womanisn movement has died at the age of 88. Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, Morrison was an unfailing leader in the push for Black women narratives and wrote such classics as Song of Solomon, Sula, and Beloved, the latter of which earned her a Pulitzer Prize. Much can be said about the transformative power of her works, but I’d rather leave you with her own words right now:

“You can’t fly with regrets of yesterdays on your wings.

You can’t fly if you’re still in love with that ex that’s bad for you. Give that shit up!

You can’t fly if you’re afraid of standing up and taking power. Give that shit up!

You can’t fly if you’re spending the time you should be using to fly on other less important things. Give that shit up!

Focus on flying, if you wanna to fly. Because if you really wanna fly, nothing should be able to stop you. And if you’re not flying, realize something is. And lose that shit!”

Rest in Power, Toni Morrison. Thank you for the gift of your words and the beauty of your life.

[ecc-poetry]

miss translated: A CHAPBOOK??? (proceeds benefit immigrant rights org)

After a long time of not doing anything because I am the worst, you can now BUY A MISS TRANSLATED CHAPBOOK:

It’s an ebook you can get ON AMAZON (sorry). Click on that sexy link, pay $2.99, and YOU can get all of the following:

9 poems from the miss translated series, one of which is NEW and NEVER BEFORE SEEN OR PUBLISHED ooooooh

the ones everybody seems to like, like la sirena y el pescador and el vampiro/ICE. 

a slightly tinytext experience because it turns out it is VERY HARD to format these bananas line breaks for a book?? I tried zooming in on my phone and that seemed to work fine.

the knowledge that you are helping an amazing immigrant rights group created by and for immigrants, new sanctuary coalition. you may have read about their executive director, Ravi Ragbir, being seized by ICE and threatened with deportation until community pressure caused them to back off. 100% of the profits from this chapbook will be going to this group. (Full disclosure: My mother works for New Sanctuary, and I’ve volunteered there doing everything from childcare to data entry. I love the community NSC has created and I think they do fabulous, empowering work.)

If you love physical artifacts and holding books in your hands, i feel you. If you buy the chapbook, I will absolutely send you the PDF for printing. I want people to have this chapbook. I want people to talk about this chapbook. Our immigrant friends in NSC’s community are terrified and vulnerable, and this is what my mother asked me to do to help them, so whatever I can do to make it easier for you to support NSC, let me know.

tl;dr: IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS. BUY THE MISS TRANSLATED EBOOK. GET A NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN POEM. PLEASE REBLOG.

AND DON’T FORGET TO ABOLISH ICE.

[jackmarlowe]

I started a lil zine/community space for trans men and trans masc people who love other men! 

– follow LOU’S CLUB on Instagram @transfxggotry

– we feature artwork, selfies, anecdotes, resources, in-community chat, profiles, memes, and more by and for gay, bi, and queer trans men and masculine-aligned people.

– this week’s theme is BODIES. if the project’s for you, shoot us a submission via DM or tag with #lousclub – and please boost!

[moniquill]

Click here to support Help Moniquill pay for developmental editing organized by Moniquill Medicine Crow

My novel, Nampeshiweisit, has been flagged as 'of great interest' to Prentis Literary. However, they say that I need significant developmental editing to improve the central conflict arc and make the voice of the protagonist clearer. I'm trying to raise money to pay a developmental editor.

Anequs has never been away from her isolated island community, one of the few indigenous enclaves that has largely been ignored by colonizers. But Anequs has just bonded with a baby dragon, and thus become the first Nampeshiweisit - dragon rider - that the island has seen in more than two hundred years. That’s something that does not go unnoticed by the colonizing powers that be.

Now, in accordance with the colonizers’ laws, Anequs must attend an academy on the mainland and prove her competence in dragon husbandry and magic. If she can’t or won’t perform to their expectations, her dragon will be put to death.

The odds are stacked against her, as the ministry of dragon affairs strongly disapproves of dragons being bonded to anyone other than young men of the colonial gentry. She finds that there are people in power - teachers, ministry officials, fellow students and their families - who are eager for her to fail. But she also makes friends and allies in this strange place far from home. She and the other outcasts of the school - the only other female student, the only other indigenous student, and the only autistic student - band together in solidarity. 

Anequs must navigate two cultures’ worth of traditions and wisdom, trying to fill a role no one has held in two hundred years. There are no mentors who can teach her precisely what she needs to be, so she must find her own path. She rekindles lost traditions, pieces together new ways of doing ancient things and traditional ways of doing new things. She must comply with the laws and regulations imposed on her by colonizers, while also staying true to her people’s values and beliefs. 

[queerkeitcoven]

ברוך שהחינו וקימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה / Blessed is the One who has enlivened us, sustained us, and brought us to this moment. 

Not much more to say at the moment except acknowledge the overflowing gratitude to all the mentors, colleagues, scholars, activists, lovers, and friends who contributed to making this book possible. Looking forward to sharing it with all of you! If you’d like to bring me to your community to share the stories of A Rainbow Thread, please get in touch!

ORDER NOW: A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969

[darkhei-noam]

So, um, I wrote a book! And it exists! And, if you’re so inclined, you can order it at the link above. If you’re interested in reading about any of the following: biblical ancestors switching genders; a same-sex hook-up in a medieval synagogue; a gender-bending Sephardi runaway in colonial Canada; a queer Pre-Raphaelite midrash on the Song of Songs; Yiddish-speaking lesbians on the Lower East Side… This might be the book for you.

[butchniqabi]

are you a black writer looking for support in your writing?

well look no further! ive started a small black writers’ discord with the hope that we can share writing, get ideas, and get constructive criticism from people who understand our experiences. it’s composed of mostly lgbt people, while i won’t exclude cishet people from joining, i ask y’all to be mindful. if you’re interested in joining shoot me a message and i can send you a link! 💕

(if you’re not black feel free to reblog to spread this around!)

[pastperfectcontinuous]

The voice is your head that’s asking how dare you is the voice produced by an environment that’s going to be challenged by your daring. The risk of undervaluing what you have to offer, especially for women of color, is so much greater than the risk of overvaluing it. Your contribution may not be grand, but its absence is going to be deeply felt and be part of a much greater void in our culture and history.

What I’d recommend next is to find your women. Seek out and support, at all costs, women of color and put their testimony above all else. We have to go out of our way to support and value each other. Love is practice; you don’t gain expertise by never enacting it. Whether that’s liking a friend’s selfie, not withholding a compliment from another woman, or publicly supporting a woman who is being publicly piled on to. That just barely approaches equalising what we’re up against.

Ayesha A. Siddiqi, “We Need To Stop Waiting For Permission To Write”

[maisiewilliams]

10 Female Written Short Stories Everyone Should Read

I have seen a post circulating for a while that lists 10 short stories everyone should read and, while these are great works, most of them are older and written by white men. I wanted to make a modern list that features fresh, fantastic and under represented voices. Enjoy!

1. A Temporary Matter by Jhumpa Lahiri — A couple in a failing marriage share secrets during a blackout. 

2. Stone Animals by Kelly Link — A family moves into a haunted house.

3. Reeling for the Empire by Karen Russell — Women are sold by their families to a silk factory, where they are slowly transformed into human silkworms. 

4. Call My Name by Aimee Bender — A woman wearing a ball gown secretly auditions men on the subway. 

5. The Man on the Stairs by Miranda July — A woman wakes up to a noise on the stairs. 

6. Brownies by ZZ Packer — Rival Girl Scout troops are separated by race. 

7. City of My Dreams by Zsuzi Gartner — A woman works at a shop selling food-inspired soap and tries not to think about her past. 

8. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor — A family drives from Georgia to Florida, even though a serial killer is on the loose. 

9. Hitting Budapest by NoViolet Bulawayo — A group of children, led by a girl named Darling, travel to a rich neighborhood to steal guavas. 

10. You’re Ugly, Too by Lorrie Moore — A history professor flies to Manhattan to spend Halloween weekend with her younger sister.

[astrangewoman]

I LOVE THIS POST!!

I’d like to add:

11. Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor

12. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (this one is my favorite short story of all time)

13. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

14. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

15. Désirée’s Baby by Kate Chopin

16. The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

17. Impressions of an Indian Childhood by Zitkala-Ša

(I wanted to put little summaries for each of them, but I’m afraid I’d spoil the whole story if I did!)

[ellydash]

adding a few more! all by women of color, & the first four were published within the last few years

18. “My Dear You,” Rachel Khong — love, loss, & absurdity in the afterlife

19. “The Husband Stitch,” Carmen Maria Machado — a feminist retelling of the folklore story “The Green Ribbon”

20. “Inventory,” Carmen Maria Machado — one woman’s retrospective list of her life’s sexual encounters

21. “Boys Go to Jupiter,” Danielle Evans — what happens after a white college student poses for a photo in a Confederate flag bikini

22. “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” ZZ Packer — a Black woman attends Yale University

[superheroesincolor]

An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017)

Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she’d be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world.

Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot–if she’s willing to sow the seeds of civil war.

by Rivers Solomon

Get it  now here

Rivers Solomon graduated from Stanford University with a degree in comparative studies in race and ethnicity and holds an MFA in fiction writing from the Michener Center for Writers. Though originally from the United States, they currently live in Cambridge, England, with their family. An Unkindness of Ghosts is their debut.

[Follow SuperheroesInColor faceb / instag / twitter / tumblr / pinterest]  

[federalbureauofislam]

hewwo i just wrote my 4th chapbook “seek” and am selling it on a sliding scale online! i always push myself to hone my art + rarely get financially compen$ated as a trans woman of color. i know money isn’t everything but it’d be nice if cis / white ppl would support me and buy my art so i can get some cute earrings after a rough week <3 please contact me personally if ur interested in buying my work which stems from a place of hurt, reconciliation, and conceptualisation of liberation

[federalbureauofislam]

hey please support trans women of color who are artists this pride month and message me if you wanna buy my book or wanna commission poetry, a drawing or any mixes! i want to save up enough to cover my textbook fees and hopefully save up enough to get some laser treatment this year so some donations would seriously help! if you wanna donate to my paypal w/out wanting anything in return feel free to send some $ to paypal.me/mustafa874

[terefah]

mumtaz’s writing is absolutely phenomenal and i don’t just say this cuz i love her! she’s one of the most talented, passionate and thoughtful people i know and it really shows in her work. please support her! 📣

[ramdaughter]

seconding that 😤 there are few things I feel as strongly about than how talented mumtaz is and how deserving she is of your support!

[recklessyokohama]

she’s so amazing at what she does !! im always stunned by her energy n power in literally everything she does. truly an icon!! please $upport!! 🌱✨

[diachronism-deactivated20190330]

mumtaz’s chapbook is literally my favorite poetry book i’ve ever read. just on a formatting level, her poems are strikingly gorgeous, but the tone and themes of her poetry is what makes it unforgivably memorable. besides all that, she’s first of all super amazing and deserves your support!