The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: space neon neon space by luna rey hall

This selection, chosen by guest editor JJ Rowan, is from space neon neon space by luna rey hall, released by Variant Lit in 2022.

say it with me

text of poem

we want a queer-ass story,
with queer-ass characters,
in a queer-ass setting
with them queer-ass earrings
& boots & those queer-ass flicks,
& subtle shades of gemstone,
tongues
ravaged by love,
that queer-ass elder letting us know
that new they/them
tiktoking their queer ass off, that salt breeze
from lake superior
bristling those queer-ass nose hairs
& all our hands in the water,
sand caught in the fat of our cuticles,
that gentleness
when night begins to take over

& there ain't a hint of trauma,
zero sadness
in this story
& fuck you

for thinking
otherwise.

luna rey hall is a queer trans writer. they are the author of four books including the upcoming novella-in-verse the patient routine (Brigids Gate Press, 2023). her poems have appeared in The Florida Review, The Rumpus, & Raleigh Review, among others.

JJ Rowan (they/them) is a queer nonbinary writer and dancer. Their poems, not-poems, and interactive performances have appeared in the tiny, Dream Pop Journal, 45th Parallel, and at the SMOL Fair and the Splinter Collective’s Interrupted by Trains, among others. Their most recent chapbook is a simple verb (Bloof Books). They are on the editorial team at just femme & dandy. You can sign up for their newsletter, actual motion, at their website.

The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: space neon neon space by luna rey hall

This selection, chosen by guest editor JJ Rowan, is from space neon neon space by luna rey hall, released by Variant Lit in 2022.

i didn’t tell my best friend i was non-binary
because we were bros

text of poem

when i run my hand
through water,

which sensation
should i be feeling?

the relief
of a summer night,

minnesota cool. or
the consuming feeling.

that all of you
is 
submerged

& sure, you can
pull it out

whenever you please,
but for a moment

you are surrendered
to the
lake.

when i talk to the sky,
should i be shouting?

it really doesn't matter.
i guess, now, he knows.

luna rey hall is a queer trans writer. they are the author of four books including the upcoming novella-in-verse the patient routine (Brigids Gate Press, 2023). her poems have appeared in The Florida Review, The Rumpus, & Raleigh Review, among others.

JJ Rowan (they/them) is a queer nonbinary writer and dancer. Their poems, not-poems, and interactive performances have appeared in the tiny, Dream Pop Journal, 45th Parallel, and at the SMOL Fair and the Splinter Collective’s Interrupted by Trains, among others. Their most recent chapbook is a simple verb (Bloof Books). They are on the editorial team at just femme & dandy. You can sign up for their newsletter, actual motion, at their website.

Sundress Publications 2023 Poetry Broadside Contest Winner Announced

Sundress Publications is thrilled to announce the results of the 2023 Poetry Broadside Contest judged by Kanika Lawton. This year’s winner is Kenzie Allen with the poem “Love Song to the Man Announcing Pow Wows and Rodeos.” Allen’s poem will be letterpress-printed as an 8.5″ x 11″ broadside and will be made available for sale in our online store. Orders for our broadside will be open this summer.

Kenzie Allen is a Haudenosaunee poet and multimodal artist; she is a descendant of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. Kenzie is a recipient of a 92 NY Discovery Prize, the James Welch Prize for Indigenous Poets, the 49th Parallel Award for Poetry, and the Littoral Press Prize, as well as fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, Aspen Summer Words, and Indigenous Nations Poets (In-Na-Po). A finalist for the National Poetry Series, her work can be found in Poetry, Boston Review, Narrative, Poets.org, The Paris Review’s The Daily, Poetry Northwest, Best New Poets, and other venues. Born in West Texas, she is currently an Assistant Professor in Indigenous Literatures and Creative Writing at York University in Toronto.

The judge of the 2023 Poetry Broadside Contest was Kanika Lawton, a Cambodian-Chinese Canadian writer, editor, and film scholar. They are a PhD student at the University of Toronto’s Cinema Studies Institute and the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies. A multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, they have received fellowships from Pink Door, BOAAT Writer’s Retreat, and the Sundress Academy for the Arts and have been published in Vagabond City Literary Journal, Longleaf Review, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Cosmonauts Avenue, and Parentheses Journal, among others. They are the author of four micro-chapbooks, most recently Theories on Wreckage (Ghost City Press, 2020). Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, they now live and work in Toronto, Ontario.

Thank you to everyone who sent us their work.

Runner-Up

Isaac Akanmu, “pangaea”

Finalists

Shlagha Borah, “seventh circle of hell”
Ashley Cline, “yellow bruise, in #F Major (god bless Carly Rae Jepsen)”
Alicia Elkort, “Eating a Pomegranate”
Shana Ross, “Transparency is an Act of Defiance”
Donna Vorreyer, “Sonnet Considering the Afterlife”
Hua Xi, “Clock Hands”

The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: space neon neon space by luna rey hall

This selection, chosen by guest editor JJ Rowan, is from space neon neon space by luna rey hall, released by Variant Lit in 2022.

at the pitch meeting for my next poem

/ one of my parents ask if i could write something / universal / & when i 
ask them what they mean / by universal / they say / “well, we loved your
old poems, / the ones that aren’t so / explicit, like anyone / could read 
them / & / feel.” / then the other chimes in / “the good old ironwood 
poems, / real oak-bark teeth poems, / the bullet mouth bullet poems, / the 
man / poems, the boy / poems, the damn-this-could-be-religion poems,
/ the worried bout’ your father poems, / the ain’t nothing wrong / with 
me / poems, the poems that grabbed the velvet / straight / off the antlers 
& wrapped it around / the moon when the moon said it was shivering, / 
real nightgown poems, / the poems that make us say ‘ah’ / and not ‘oh,’ / 
poems that make a grandpa think / ‘my grandson ain’t so bad,’ / the poem 
that makes a grandpa / say ‘my grandson,’ / poems that make someone say 
‘son.’”

luna rey hall is a queer trans writer. they are the author of four books including the upcoming novella-in-verse the patient routine (Brigids Gate Press, 2023). her poems have appeared in The Florida Review, The Rumpus, & Raleigh Review, among others.

JJ Rowan (they/them) is a queer nonbinary writer and dancer. Their poems, not-poems, and interactive performances have appeared in the tiny, Dream Pop Journal, 45th Parallel, and at the SMOL Fair and the Splinter Collective’s Interrupted by Trains, among others. Their most recent chapbook is a simple verb (Bloof Books). They are on the editorial team at just femme & dandy. You can sign up for their newsletter, actual motion, at their website.

The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: space neon neon space by luna rey hall

This selection, chosen by guest editor JJ Rowan, is from space neon neon space by luna rey hall, released by Variant Lit in 2022.

content warning for transphobia and mention of rape

tik-tok comment section

text of poem

have you had / surgery / ? /		/ girl! / that explains 
a lot / on a side note, /	strawberry beauty blender / i need 
more sleep / people like this would be better off dead
                   / like / an icon! /	i didn’t know you were	trans / 

comment not available /

*panics in bi* /	queen! / well, boys	we lost 
another one   / cringe /   what’s in / women’s pants
                                                                               are a guessing game
/ … until i hear “how’s it going” in a deep voice…/	your a boy lol
/ i love it when women	/ 

comment not available

/ i’d make it like	blood for the	blood	gods / put some
uneducated people in place /	with our /	sacrifices / all i see & hear

is a man who can’t accept	                         he’s a man *shrug emoji*
                / she more girly than me	/ couldn’t tell she was trans mtf / 
thought she cis / GIRL GLOW UP / vibes = immaculate	/ you/
          leading him on / that’s rape but go off sis

/ comment not available

/ fortnite? tonight? /	respectfully… wow! / this comment section 
           is down bad / love your name— “to bind”
                          in Hebrew / am i the only one	that doesn’t get it? / 
           take me with you, i’m already in Georgia		/ against
           the natural order

                                              tbh / ur a queen!

/ comment not available /

wait m to w or w to m? / looking like lily Aldridge	/ um you say trans 
                       but which way	/ comment not available /
                                      why would you do this? / GIRL!	/ it’s not too late 
                       to repent for your sins! / transitioning towards
                                      freedom of gender / wait you’re trans!? /

/	/

this comment section does not pass / the vibe check	/ skin envy / 
                   drop the routine! / i’m proud of you / like really
                   / really / proud of you / i’m obsessed,
                                               / every girl needs to shave her head at least once

luna rey hall is a queer trans writer. they are the author of four books including the upcoming novella-in-verse the patient routine (Brigids Gate Press, 2023). her poems have appeared in The Florida Review, The Rumpus, & Raleigh Review, among others.

JJ Rowan (they/them) is a queer nonbinary writer and dancer. Their poems, not-poems, and interactive performances have appeared in the tiny, Dream Pop Journal, 45th Parallel, and at the SMOL Fair and the Splinter Collective’s Interrupted by Trains, among others. Their most recent chapbook is a simple verb (Bloof Books). They are on the editorial team at just femme & dandy. You can sign up for their newsletter, actual motion, at their website.

Sundress Academy for the Arts Announces: 2023 Trans/Nonbinary Writers Retreat

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is thrilled to announce its Trans/Nonbinary Writers Retreat, which runs from Friday, June 9th through Saturday, June 10, 2023. This event will be entirely virtual held via Zoom. All SAFTA retreats focus on generative writing, and this year’s retreat will also include the following craft talk sessions: “Queering the Lens: Trans Ekphrastic” and “The Poetics of Addiction: Imagery, Symbolism, and Juxtaposition in Writing Alcoholism.”

The event will be open to trans and nonbinary writers of all backgrounds and experience levels and provide an opportunity to work with many talented authors and poets from around the country, including workshop leaders jason b. crawford and Remi Recchia and keynote speaker Ina Cariño.

Ina Cariño is a 2022 Whiting Award winner with an MFA in creative writing from North Carolina State University. Their poetry appears or is forthcoming in the American Poetry Review, the Margins, Guernica, Poetry Northwest, Poetry Magazine, the Paris Review Daily, Waxwing, New England Review, and elsewhere. She is a Kundiman fellow and is the winner of the 2021 Alice James Award for Feast, forthcoming from Alice James Books in March 2023. In 2021, Ina was selected as one of four winners of the 92Y Discovery Poetry Contest.

Jason b. Crawford (they/them) was born in Washington DC and raised in Lansing, MI. They are the author of Year of the Unicorn Kidz and an MFA candidate in poetry at The New School (‘23).

Remi Recchia is a trans poet and essayist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is a PhD candidate in English-Creative Writing at Oklahoma State University. He currently serves as an associate editor for the Cimarron Review and Book Editor for Gasher Press. A five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Remi’s work has appeared in World Literature Today, Best New Poets 2021, Columbia Online Journal, Harpur Palate, and Juked, among others. He holds an MFA in poetry from Bowling Green State University. Remi is the author of Quicksand / Stargazing (Cooper Dillon Books, 2021) and Sober (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2022) and the editor of Transmasculine Poetics: Filling the Gap in Literature & the Silences Around Us (Sundress Publications 2024).

The total cost of attendance is $75. To apply for a fellowship, please send a packet of 5-12 pages of writing (poetry, fiction, or nonfiction) along with a brief statement on why you would like to attend this workshop to safta@sundresspublications.com no later than March 31, 2023. Winners will be contacted mid-April.

Space at this workshop may be limited, so please reserve your place today.

Project Bookshelf: Robin LaMer Rahija

A photo of books, including Nox by Anne Carson.

Every book, everywhere, all the time. I read several books at once, depending on what room of my apartment I’m in. There are bedside books, living room books, bathroom books. Endless audio books that never show up on the shelves.

I have a lot of poetry. Anne Carson is one of my favorites. I love her translations of Sappho and Autobiography of Red, which I read a long time ago when I was still pretending I didn’t want to be a writer.

I have even more fiction. I can’t remember who said that artists never admit who their real influences are. It would be just too embarrassing. I’m owning up to reading more fiction than poetry, despite calling myself a poet. I’ve read Wittgenstein’s Mistress so many times. It’s my emotional support book. I had to get a second copy after I spilled sunscreen all over the first one. It’s not exactly a traditional beach read, but I kept it and still open it sometimes for the olfactory memory of reading it at Folly Beach.

A photo of books, including Wittgenstein's Mistress, by David Markson.

Everything I ever published as the editor of Rabbit Catastrophe Press is collected together here. It only takes up half a shelf. That half a shelf is a decade of my life. It was the most fun I ever had.

A photo of books, including Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson.

I also love this bin of zines I’ve collected over the years at festivals and books tours in basements and abandoned warehouses. Much has been said about the subversive nature of zines. I believe they contain the most experimental and interesting writing because they’re not (as) tied to the monetization of art. People can write in them what they need to write.

A photo of zines.

The last time I moved, it became clear I had TOO MANY BOOKS. I did a big pare down and gave myself a challenge: buy no books for a year. Instead, I used the library and had an elaborate network of borrowing books from people. I made exceptions if a friend put out a book (you have to support your friends) and if I went to a reading for someone on a book tour (working writers need gas money). I mostly rose to the challenge, and even though I have fewer books now, I think I look at, talk about, run a hand over, and browse through my bookshelves more than I used to. They are filled with books I love by the people I love.

Robin LaMer Rahija (she/her) did her MFA in poetry at the University of Kentucky. Her work has appeared in Puerto Del Sol, FENCE, Guernica, and elsewhere. She is an Editorial Intern at Sundress Publications. She loves books, trees, and Excel documents.

The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: space neon neon space by luna rey hall

This selection, chosen by guest editor JJ Rowan, is from space neon neon space by luna rey hall, released by Variant Lit in 2022.

definition

non1-binary2

¹ not of the importance implied; considerate.
i am of that last word implied. who could ask
for sea-salt; only to be given the entire sea?

² something having two parts; a notation of
how one presents in the body when the body
is handed over to the system. the system
a body in it of itself. i wash my feet
in the sea, spread my toes from the sand,
tiny crystals of salt all shimmer in the current.

luna rey hall is a queer trans writer. they are the author of four books including the upcoming novella-in-verse the patient routine (Brigids Gate Press, 2023). her poems have appeared in The Florida Review, The Rumpus, & Raleigh Review, among others.

JJ Rowan (they/them) is a queer nonbinary writer and dancer. Their poems, not-poems, and interactive performances have appeared in the tiny, Dream Pop Journal, 45th Parallel, and at the SMOL Fair and the Splinter Collective’s Interrupted by Trains, among others. Their most recent chapbook is a simple verb (Bloof Books). They are on the editorial team at just femme & dandy. You can sign up for their newsletter, actual motion, at their website.

The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: Erasures of My Coming Out (Letter) by Mary Warren Foulk

This selection, chosen by guest editor JJ Rowan, is from Erasures of My Coming Out (Letter) by Mary Warren Foulk, released by The Poetry Box in 2022.

THE LETTER

November 2002

Dear Mom,

There’s something I need to share with you, that I’ve been keeping from you. I can’t keep it in anymore. I am burdened by secrecy and the stress is weighing on me. I am sorry to be doing this by mail. For me, a letter is the most effective, the easiest and perhaps most considerate way to convey what I am thinking and feeling. I want you to know that I am with Alyson. She is not just my roommate, but also my partner and we have a wonderful, beautiful relationship and life together in New York. I’ve waited until now to tell you for a number of reasons—please trust and try to understand them.

I needed the time and space for my sake, to feel comfortable with and committed to me, my identity, my choices and needs, to feel comfortable with and committed to my relationship with Alyson. I know this is hard, it’s not the “norm,” especially for our family and family expectations. We’re not the most liberal of families. And it’s weird for me. It’s difficult to be gay—society makes it so. I don’t even necessarily identify as such. I feel as if I met this great person and I want to be with this great person. I know this will take some time to adjust to, to accept, for all involved.

I was scared, scared of rejection, of more loss, disappointment, judgment. I know this is not what you would necessarily want or hope for me. I love and adore Alyson, she is phenomenal, incredibly special, and vital to me. I am not validating or respecting her or me, our choices, by being silent, hidden. I can’t and don’t want to deny us anymore. I want you to know me, fully. I don’t want you to find out through some other means or after the fact.

Please don’t respond right away. Take some time to read and re-read this, to think about your response, your feelings. I’m sorry it has taken me this long to tell you. It is my hope that we talk about this and over time, that you ask questions and tell me what you need. It is also my hope that you will get to know Alyson and that you will have the chance to see what I see.

Please always know that I love you.
Mary

ERASURE

Text of Image

DATE

Dear [             ],

There's
                                                                         me


                                               a wonderful   





                                                                                                                 gay—





                                                                      fact.

                                    



Mary

Mary Warren Foulk has been published in Fjords Review, The Hollins Critic, Pine Hills Review, Palette Poetry, Silkworm, and Steam Ticket, among other publications. Her work also has appeared in (M)othering Anthology (Inanna Publications), and My Loves: A Digital Anthology of Queer Love Poems (Ghost City Press). Her chapbook, If I Could Write You a Happier Ending, was selected by dancing girl press (2021) for their annual series featuring women poets. Her manuscript Self-Portrait with Erosion was a finalist for the 2021 Gival Press Poetry Award.

JJ Rowan (they/them) is a queer nonbinary writer and dancer. Their poems, not-poems, and interactive performances have appeared in the tiny, Dream Pop Journal, 45th Parallel, and at the SMOL Fair and the Splinter Collective’s Interrupted by Trains, among others. Their most recent chapbook is a simple verb (Bloof Books). They are on the editorial team at just femme & dandy. You can sign up for their newsletter, actual motion, at their website.

The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: Erasures of My Coming Out (Letter) by Mary Warren Foulk

This selection, chosen by guest editor JJ Rowan, is from Erasures of My Coming Out (Letter) by Mary Warren Foulk, released by The Poetry Box in 2022.

THE LETTER

November 2002

Dear Mom,

There’s something I need to share with you, that I’ve been keeping from you. I can’t keep it in anymore. I am burdened by secrecy and the stress is weighing on me. I am sorry to be doing this by mail. For me, a letter is the most effective, the easiest and perhaps most considerate way to convey what I am thinking and feeling. I want you to know that I am with Alyson. She is not just my roommate, but also my partner and we have a wonderful, beautiful relationship and life together in New York. I’ve waited until now to tell you for a number of reasons—please trust and try to understand them.

I needed the time and space for my sake, to feel comfortable with and committed to me, my identity, my choices and needs, to feel comfortable with and committed to my relationship with Alyson. I know this is hard, it’s not the “norm,” especially for our family and family expectations. We’re not the most liberal of families. And it’s weird for me. It’s difficult to be gay—society makes it so. I don’t even necessarily identify as such. I feel as if I met this great person and I want to be with this great person. I know this will take some time to adjust to, to accept, for all involved.

I was scared, scared of rejection, of more loss, disappointment, judgment. I know this is not what you would necessarily want or hope for me. I love and adore Alyson, she is phenomenal, incredibly special, and vital to me. I am not validating or respecting her or me, our choices, by being silent, hidden. I can’t and don’t want to deny us anymore. I want you to know me, fully. I don’t want you to find out through some other means or after the fact.

Please don’t respond right away. Take some time to read and re-read this, to think about your response, your feelings. I’m sorry it has taken me this long to tell you. It is my hope that we talk about this and over time, that you ask questions and tell me what you need. It is also my hope that you will get to know Alyson and that you will have the chance to see what I see.

Please always know that I love you.
Mary

ERASURE

Text of Image

DATE

Dear [             ],

    







                                                                      accept




                                    me



 [             ]

Mary Warren Foulk has been published in Fjords Review, The Hollins Critic, Pine Hills Review, Palette Poetry, Silkworm, and Steam Ticket, among other publications. Her work also has appeared in (M)othering Anthology (Inanna Publications), and My Loves: A Digital Anthology of Queer Love Poems (Ghost City Press). Her chapbook, If I Could Write You a Happier Ending, was selected by dancing girl press (2021) for their annual series featuring women poets. Her manuscript Self-Portrait with Erosion was a finalist for the 2021 Gival Press Poetry Award.

JJ Rowan (they/them) is a queer nonbinary writer and dancer. Their poems, not-poems, and interactive performances have appeared in the tiny, Dream Pop Journal, 45th Parallel, and at the SMOL Fair and the Splinter Collective’s Interrupted by Trains, among others. Their most recent chapbook is a simple verb (Bloof Books). They are on the editorial team at just femme & dandy. You can sign up for their newsletter, actual motion, at their website.