Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color

by Christopher Soto (Editor)

Overview

The first major literary anthology for queer poets of color in the United States In 2014, Christopher Soto and Lambda Literary Foundation founded the online journal Nepantla, with the mission to nurture, celebrate, and preserve diversity within the queer poetry community, including contributions as diverse in style and form, as the experiences of QPOC in the United States. Now, Nepantla will appear for the first time in print as a survey of poetry by queer poets of color throughout U.S. history, including literary legends such as Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, June Jordan, Ai, and Pat Parker alongside contemporaries such as Natalie Diaz, Ocean Vuong, Danez Smith, Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Robin Coste Lewis, Joy Harjo, Richard Blanco, Erika L. Sánchez, Jericho Brown, Carl Phillips, Tommy Pico, Eduardo C. Corral, Chen Chen, and more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937658786
Publisher:	Nightboat Books
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	253,772
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Christopher Soto (b. 1991, Los Angeles) is a poet based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the author of Sad Girl Poems (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2016) and the editor of Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color (Nightboat Books, 2018). For more information visit christophersoto-poet.com

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Pat Parker 3

Denice Frohman 7

Ife-Chudeni A. Oputa 9

Ocean Vuong 10

June Jordan 12

Steffan Triplett 14

Paul Tran 15

Ai 16

Audre Lorde 19

Ronaldo V. Wilson 21

Caleb Luna 22

Chen Chen 24

Jericho Brown 26

Fatima Espiritu 28

Danez Smith 29

Adrian Stanford 31

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo 32

Madison Johnson 34

Albert Park 36

Arisa White 37

Tommy Pico 38

Carl Phillips 39

Lillian-Yvonne Bertram 40

Ariana Brown 42

Meredith Talusan 44

Beth Brant 48

Ka'imilani Leota-Sellers 49

Essex Hemphill 51

Demian DinéYazhi' 53

Irene Villaseñor 55

Cameron Awkward-Rich 56

Eduardo Martinez-Leyva 58

Monica Hand 59

Brenda Shaughnessy 60

Qwo-Li Driskill 62

Langston Hughes 63

Rajiv Mohabir 64

Juliana Huxtable 67

Candace Williams 69

Allyson Ang 70

Sarah Maria Medina 72

Rosebud Ben-Oni 73

Xandria Phillips 74

Oswaldo Vargas 76

Robin Coste Lewis 77

Phillip B. Williams 78

Madiha Khan 80

George Abraham 82

Julian Randall 87

Nikki Giovanni 88

Jayy Dodd 89

Joy Harjo 90

Joseph O. Legaspi 93

T'ai freedom ford 94

Francisco Aragón 95

Amber Atiya 96

Fatimah Asghar 97

Joy KMT 99

Mark Aguhar 100

Jan-Henry Gray 102

Natalie Diaz 104

Samiya Bashir 108

Dawn Lundy Martin 109

Tatiana de la tierra 110

Joshua Jennifer Espinoza 112

Franny Choi 114

Aziza Barnes 115

Erika L. Sánchez 116

Myriam Gurba 118

Justin Chin 119

Rickey Laurentiis 122

Richard Blanco 126

Julian Talamantez Brolaski 128

Cedar Sigo 130

Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson 131

Eduardo C Corral 132

JP Howard 134

Luther Hughes 135

Pamela Sneed 137

Rick Barot 139

Muriel Leung 141

Hieu Minh Nguyen 142

Derrick Austin 143

Donika Kelly 144

Jess X. Snow 145

Akilah Oliver 147

Jewelle Gomez 150

Francisco X. Alarcón 152

Assotto Saint 153

Reginald Shepherd 160

Melvin Dixon 162

Ryka Aoki 164

Kazim Ali 167

Saeed Jones 168

Ren Hang 169

Rachel Eliza Griffiths 170

Kamilah Aisha Moon 171

Rigoberto González 173

Emanuel Xavier 181

Charif Shanahan 183

Paula Gunn Allen 184

Nikky Finney 185

Countee Cullen 187

Kokumo 188

Robert Hayden 190

Angelina Weld Grimké 193

Cheryl Clarke 194

Ser Serpas 195

James Baldwin 198

Acknowledgements 201

Publication Credits 202

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/18/2018
Soto (Sad Girl Poems), a cofounder of the Undocupoets campaign and founder of the eponymous online journal at Lambda Literary, reaches back as far as the Harlem Renaissance to offer a taste of the past century’s “queer of color literary history.” In the introduction, Soto cites Gloria E. Anzaldúa as the source of the journal’s name, which, she writes, is “a Nahuatl word meaning tierra entre medio.” The intention is to convey “the feeling of shifting between various communities and identities,” Soto notes, and the work he reproduces here duly follows that premise. Lighter-hearted, more joyful pieces (Danez Smith, Justin Chin) abut works of emotional turmoil (Paul Tran, Luther Hughes), just as challenging language experiments (Fatima Espiritu, Akilah Oliver) appear amid elegant lyrics (Ocean Vuong, Donika Kelly). According to Soto, three elements were considered in choosing the more than 100 poems included here: a poem’s emotionality, the risks a poet is taking, and whether the poet has been “absolutely pivotal to development of other queer of color poets.” Soto also recognizes the limitations of such an anthology, particularly in regards to the nebulous nature of defining terms of identity and ways included poets self-identify, as well as the various ways the work may be seen by other members of related communities in the U.S. and internationally. Despite these caveats, Soto succeeds in assembling an expansive, sonorous, and literarily significant volume that reveals the broad range of engagements queer poets of color have undertaken over the years. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"According to Soto, three elements were considered in choosing the more than 100 poems included here: a poem’s emotionality, the risks a poet is taking, and whether the poet has been “absolutely pivotal to development of other queer of color poets.” Soto also recognizes the limitations of such an anthology, particularly in regards to the nebulous nature of defining terms of identity and ways included poets self-identify, as well as the various ways the work may be seen by other members of related communities in the U.S. and internationally. Despite these caveats, Soto succeeds in assembling an expansive, sonorous, and literarily significant volume that reveals the broad range of engagements queer poets of color have undertaken over the years."—Publisher's Weekly

"An historical anthology, not only because it is the first major anthology of its kind, but also because it concerns itself with the act of constructing a kind of communal history."—Torrin A. Greathouse, The Rumpus

"An anthology that ambitiously champions our differences as queers of color, our ranges of experience and styles and voice, allowing them to thrive in one book."—Marcos Gonsalez, Los Angeles Review

"By my standards, Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color contains more than a handful of those profound turns of language that create a heart-stopping feeling. To call them out individually would do disservice to others—not just the other poets, who, as we know, are sensitive souls, but other readers, who may mistake my soul-stirring moments as exclusive to theirs. It is an anthology worth reading, and a rich vein for discovering new poets for yourself."—Sarah Rose Sharp, Hyperallergic

"…Despite its heavy subject matter, I would go so far as to call Neplanta required reading for not only queer people, but anybody who will not be negatively affected by the triggers listed above. The stories told in this anthology are painful in their truth, gripping, and eye-opening. I felt different after reading it."—Megan G, Lesbrary

From the Publisher