Read Trans Poets: A Roundup of our Community Event Series in Celebration of Splendor

This September and October, twelve bookstores across the US and internationally partnered with the Center for the Art of Translation and Two Lines Press to celebrate the launch of Splendor: Trans Poets(opens in a new tab) through a series of community events that drew over 200 attendees at indie bookstores. Featuring everything from poetry readings and open mics to workshops and drag shows, the series aimed to amplify trans and nonbinary voices and build international solidarity through poetry. We’ve invited our event partners to share highlights from their gatherings and reflect on how these events resonated with their local communities.

Opening performance by Windafire (any pronouns), musician, healer, spiritualist, and storyteller. 

Readers: Almah LaVon (theyy/themme), a writer and fairy marsh monster who organizes whimsical community workshops in collaboration with local queer organizations. Marsh Anderson (he/they) in representation of Dreams of Hope, a queer youth arts organization. James (he/him) in representation of The Gingko Collective, a Trans collective advocating for transgender autonomy. 

Windafire’s musical performance at the start of the event was a really beautiful way to open the evening. It was also special to get to hear why each of the readers chose the poems they did, as a way to connect the community here with the authors. And I always find that talking to attendees after the event, and hearing what poems stood out to them and how the event resonated for them, is one of the best parts of meTamorphosis events, and that was definitely true at this event too.

The chance to read from international trans poets felt really unique, as poetry in translation isn’t necessarily something that gets highlighted often, especially in queer spaces. It was special to get to share that experience together as a community, hearing the experiences of trans people across the globe and finding that we connect with them the same way that we connect with each other. It broadened my conception of the trans community in a way that felt really comforting and beautiful.

—James, The Gingko Collective

The community was very excited to be in attendance. While we always have a good number of people come out for meTamorphosis, a few new attendees came specifically because they were excited about Splendor. Everyone seemed very present with each reading/reader and shared some beautiful conversation after the event, with both staff and each other.

There was a moment during James’s reading where the author alluded to swimming while trans and the room—a largely trans crowd—laughed, clapped, and snapped along in agreement/recognition of the experience. It felt like a beat of particular gratitude that we were all together and that some experiences that trans people have span across language and culture as universal and unifying moments.

—Ramona Flores, White Whale Bookstore

Host & Opener: Rick Griffith

Readers: E.J. Cousins, Olivia Lockwood, Aimee Herman, Rajiv Mohabir, Rachel Franklin Wood, & Moudi Sbeity

The event resonated perfectly with our store’s community. There were seven readers and everyone read an excerpt from the anthology and a piece of their own poetry. Stunned by the multilingual content and context for this, we had a super strong response.

—Rick Griffith, owner of The Shop at MATTER

Readers: Samuel Ace

We hosted two events in celebration of Splendor. The first was a small class for trans writers led by Samuel Ace. In an effort to support trans writers at every stage of their development and to acknowledge the importance of engaging in communal learning and writing spaces, each student received a $25 stipend for attending. We received so much excitement about this class and quickly reached capacity / had to create a waitlist. Sam read the anthology when preparing for the class and included six prompts that were inspired by poems in Splendor (highlighting poems by Ida Hove Solberg, Luka Holmegaard, Pascale Bérubé, Kim Sono, and Camila Sosa Villada). Attendees of the class participated with enthusiasm and following the class, many of them used their stipends to buy a copy of Splendor. One standout moment was that when receiving their stipends, many students shared that this was the first time that they were getting paid for something related to their writing. 

For our monthly open mic, we often feature a published poet to read after the open mic portion. For September, we encouraged attendees from Sam’s class to attend the open mic as featured readers. A few of them did and it was their first time reading at Charis, which was very exciting! It was amazing to get to hear the work that they created in Sam’s class. 

—Abeo Chimeka-Tisdale, Programming Assistant and bookseller at Charis Books & More

Readers: Alexis N. Garcia, Mukethe Kawinzi, Jana Vourgourakis, & Andrew Wilson

This is the kind of event we love to host at Green Apple. Exceptionally talented writers celebrating worthwhile, cutting-edge work. Garcia and Kawinzi were simply stunning. The way they embraced the work in Splendor and blended their own writing with it was truly a sight to behold. 

—Kar Johnson, Event Coordinator at Green Apple Books

Readers: Stephanie Burt, Catherine Rockwood, Myles Taylor, Trace Peterson, and six open mic poets.

This event was such a hit with the community—it turns out this is exactly what Belmont has been missing. We’re already hearing from customers that they’d like to make this a recurring event.

Each of the four poets we brought in was phenomenal and showcased the diversity of trans experiences, and I was floored by the open mic poets who read after.

There was such a feeling of joy and connection in the room that night. People laughed, cried, and connected with each other on a level that we rarely see at events. We’re already brainstorming how we can capture and recreate this energy.

—Sophie Chen, Manager at Belmont Books

Readers at Brick Lane Bookshop: Tash Walker, Finn Brown, Izzie Glover, Danielle Wilde, & Chloe Filani

Readers at The Common Press: Tash Walker, Leo Boix, So Mayer, Peter Scalpello & Hasti Crowther

Both London events asked the poets to read their chosen pieces from Splendor, and then respond to them with their own work, and the combination was outstanding, not only for the resonance that the Splendor poems held for each poet, but in how their own work added more voices, more experiences, and turned it into a truly creative collaboration. 

The event at The Common Press also featured an Open Mic session, during which at least another 8–10 people read their own work, one of whom had actually compiled their poem that very afternoon, and which had a profound effect on many of us there.

I wish all the staff at Two Lines Press and the translators and writers who contributed to Splendor were able to experience the enthusiastic and deeply felt praise that the readers bestowed on this collection. They all absolutely love it, and expressed it many times during the events. Both Tash Walker and Hasti Crowther in particular were like poetry-pushers, almost pressing copies into people’s hands. And So Mayer has been a champion from the start, suggesting many of the poets who took part in the events.

I personally have never hosted events in this format before, and I can honestly say that it has fast become my favourite way of experiencing a literary event. They have been exciting, creative, collaborative, and full of possibility, and both events attracted a full house. I’d like to base many more events on this format in future. 

—Nicolette Praca, Two Lines Press U.K. Publicity

Don’t miss the last event of our community series: Sunday Morning Splendor: A Morning of Poetry Readings with Rickey Laurentiis on October 25 (10 AM CDT) at Frenchmen Art & Books in New Orleans, LA.

Read an interview with Splendor translators Olivia Lasky, Kit Maude, & Eunice Lee.