A Poem by Caleb N. Gonsalves:

Complex Math Formulas  I don’t always feel like myself  I’ve been described by so many words,  Labels thrown in my direction  They were so convincing,              fooled me for years.  Pieces of myself,              at least the parts I understand Pull me apart, divided in two Neither side fully me             and I not complete without both. The...

A Poem by Phree:

Accountability How painful it has been to be loved by me. How sad a story. My exes got tired of playing me the worlds smallest violin. Became exhausted from my excuses excusing my abusive behavior. My patterns an emotional rollercoaster; A hamster wheel: A cycle of repetition; Of generational connections; A few of my lovers...

A Poem by Robin Gow:

The Contortionist(s)              After Greer Lankton  1. You take the new moon between your legs and do a hand stand. In the corner, your gender promises you it’s almost over. 2. When I was a child, I loved to play with my video camera. It had little tapes full of my fingers. Our voices  turned into...

Three Poems by Robin Gow

Dead in a Photobooth  We were high schoolers buying eyeliner  at end the world. The mall food court vibrated with bats. I wanted enough faces so I could use them  like a stone path out of this moment. My face skeletoned more each day. I was a boy then a girl then a girl boy...

Deus Ex Machina by Sarah Isbell

Dehydrated androgyny soars high as ornate headdresses dance blithely among vividly obvious hues scattering bright orange romance infecting gender stereo doors with sprinkles of frivolous cues. A full house, three queens over two diamond jacks, painted by camera lens, as gender bends, away in android jones style gluttony - deus ex machina - breaking free of brains...

How Are Writers’ Demographics used by the Publishing Industry?

I offer a short overview of how the divide within this world forefronts white male straight and western writers. I know it's not a surprise to many but this list might be interesting for those of us who hadn't thought about it before. By understanding this, we can, as writers and poets, push back and...

How to Dress like a Man 101

Continuing the lists to help writers mess with gendered expectations, here are the items men are told to acquire in order to fit in. Yes, this came from a compilation of such lists for men and by men in 2021. You can use this idea to mess with the stereotypes though, add items from this...

How to Dress Like a Woman 101

Surprisingly, to me anyway, magazines still push the idea of what men and women SHOULD wear. I offer the list here as ways for writers to play with such expectations. By describing your narrators with a mix of both what are called mens and womens clothing, you can challenge the notion of gendered appearances. You...

We Used to be Tomboys:

I read too much where the author changed the pronoun but little else when they could embody the experience of being outside the gender expectations of our Western culture. That then is the motivation. What will follow is a series of posts/chapters to share what I found. There will be lists in places, academic articles, personal stories and more.

Poem: I Am Safe Inside This Body

A new poem by the emerging writer, Spencer Jean from Montreal.