Shade Literary Arts

“How do you break in to your own body? Find a mirror that hasn’t killed you. Dreams don’t come quietly. Be careful with the ones you pick clean."

“I am warned against bathing in this darkness but instead I escort my past outside to witness that which purges us. I am asked to let go

“I’ve been careful about starting fires I can’t control. I walk next to a man tonight. In his house our fingernails peel off

alhamdulillah to my ragged breath   how it pulls and bites the air as I waddle up the long flight of stairs to my beloveds who laugh ins

Book Reviewers will be asked to review (500-750 words) a contemporary book by a queer writer of color. The book can be from any genre. Book

Updated: 2/4/2025 Alice James Books Let the Moon Wobble by Ally Ang November 11, 2025 | $24.95 In poems born of intense loneliness,...

Full-length and chapbooks are included in this list. Last updated: 3/29/2023 Alice James Books Feast by Ina Cariño (March, $17.95). About...

Over the last six years, Shade Literary Arts has had a small hand in supporting queer writers of color from across the world. Through 8...

But who hasn’t killed a version of themselves to appease the one they worship. When I feel most beautiful, I wait for his flinch. We...

I've been thinking a lot about the importance of silence and what silence offers and interrogates within a poem. I have to say, I haven't...