We all could stand to read more poetry. I say this as a poet who is immersed in poetry daily. You can never have too much of it–and personally, I don’t understand why more people don’t read poetry more. It’s short, which means you can digest a poem (the first time) anywhere. It’s all very momentary. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t go back to the poem later, and reread it with new eyes.
This is why I’m rounding up 13 LGBTQ-identifying poets whose work I admire. We can always cope with more poetry, am I right?
1. Jamie Mortara – “Any Animal” (Queen Mob’s Teahouse)
2. Natalie Diaz – “Grief Work” (Poets.org)
3. Amber Atiya – “How To Land A Job” (Powder Keg)
4. Nikky Finney – “The Aureole” (Poetry Foundation)
5. Precious Okoyomon – “Daydream in Ultralight Beams” (Metatron)
6. Jayy Dodd – “Black Philosophy #3” (The Shade Journal)
7. Frank Bidart – “Queer” (Poets.org)
8. CAConrad – “Bee Alliance: A (Soma)tic Poetry Ritual & Resulting Poem” (PEN America)
9. Eileen Myles – “The Letter Q” (Poets.org)
10. Joshua Jennifer Espinoza – “The Moon Is Queer” (The Feminist Wire)
11. Ricardo Maldonado – “The Project of Hands” (InDigest Magazine)
12. Tommy Pico – “Junk (an excerpt)” (Poetry Foundation)
13. Nathaniel Rosenthalis – “A Map Poem” (Yes Poetry)
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (2016, ELJ Publications), & Xenos (2016, Agape Editions) and the editor of “A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault” (CCM, 2017). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, as well as the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM. Some of their writing has appeared in Prelude, Apogee, Spork The Atlas Review, The Feminist Wire, BUST, The James Franco Review, and elsewhere. They also teach workshops at Brooklyn Poets.