In the wake of JK once more being a total jk, here’s a (non-exhaustive) thread of works by Black trans writers.
Don’t Call Us Dead - Danez Smith, poetry about Black masculinity, police brutality, gender and queerness. Probably the best book of poetry I’ve ever read. Smith has several collections available and you should read them all.
The Deep - Rivers Solomon, a speculative fiction novella about the descendants of murdered slave women. Themes of trauma and memory. Really beautiful writing. Their sci-fi novel An Unkindness of Ghosts is equally unmissable.
Redefining Realness - Janet Mock, the memoir of Mock’s childhood and adolescence as a trans woman before she transitioned. Mock’s second memoir, Surpassing Certainty, focuses on her life in her twenties.
Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender, a YA novel about a teenage trans boy (at the start of the book), Felix, as he further questions his identity, tries to find love, and works on his artistic future. Everything that makes YA novels great.
Reacquainted with Life - KOKUMO, a debut about Black trans womanhood and the power of her voice and body. This work is so hard to describe. Ferocious? Lively? Witty? Completely different to literally any poetry I’ve ever read? All of the above and more.
Mannish Tongues - jay dodd, a poetry collection about Black youth, queerness, religion, family, and gender. I hate how pretentious the word ‘visceral’ is, but it’s pretty accurate here. dodd’s collection The Black Condition ft. Narcissus is also phenomenal.
Pet - Akwaeke Emezi, a YA novel about a Black trans teenage girl and having to confront the existence of monsters. Emezi also has an acclaimed adult novel out, Freshwater, and I believe their new adult novel, The Death of Vivek Oji, is out in August 2020.
trigger - Venus Selenite, poetry about being Black, trans, queer, and unapologetic. This one is hard to get hold of, but worth it if you can. Selenite also co-edited and is featured in Nameless Woman, an anthology of writing by trans women of colour.
Surge - Jay Bernard, a poetry collection written in response to the 1981 fire at New Cross Road, as well as Grenfell Tower and the Windrush Scandal. Bernard is one of those poets who can use 10 words to say more than most of us can in 1,000.
Nameless Woman: An Anthology of Fiction by Trans Women of Color - ed. Venus Selenite, Ellyn Peña and Jamie Berrout, this one includes several stories by Black trans women and is, as a body of work, completely invaluable. The stories here range from semi-autobiographical and romance to sci-fi and speculative fiction.
You can also financially support Black trans people through donating to organisations such as thisandthese.
Important addendum: I tried incredibly hard to find published works by Black trans women, because trans women are the focus of JK Rowling’s tweets and indeed an overwhelming amount of violence and bigotry in general, but I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that Black trans women are enormously discriminated against by the publishing industry, and are routinely denied a platform for their work and their voices. Literally, when you Google ‘black trans woman author’, you just get Janet Mock’s author page. I think all of the books by Black trans women in the list above, with the exception of Janet Mock, are self/indie pub.
I have trawled through online indie and radical publishing magazines, message boards, and nearly 100 lists of ‘trans authors you must read now!’ and I would charitably say that about 1% of people featured in such lists are Black trans women. Obviously, Black trans women are writing, but the lack of available platform for their work is a huge barrier to their voices being heard. If anyone else has recommendations for work by Black trans women, whether it’s a physical book, an online chapbook, an Insta account of poetry, or anything else, pleaseadd it, because there must be so much more than I’ve managed to find.
“Get in the corner,” Whumper snarls in Whumpee’s face, dragging them up by a fistful of hair. They’re about to throw them bodily onto the mattress that passes for a bed, and Whumpee tenses for the moment the springs punch the concrete. But Whumper pauses halfway through the motion, a little smirk tugging the corner of their lip. “On second thoughts…”
“Wh-Whumper?” Whumpee tries to turn to see what Whumper is staring at. Their eyes widen at the sight of their teddy bear, soft and fluffy against a pillow that is anything but. “N-no, please don’t take him away, please—”
“Him?” Whumper muses. The blood floods Whumpee’s cheeks and drains out again just as fast. “You are attached to that ratty thing, aren’t you? I heard it was a present from Caretaker.”
Whumpee makes a lunge. Whumper’s hand restrains them with ease, twisting the neckline of their shirt until they splutter. “And it’s made you quite ill-mannered. Dear me. I think teddy needs a time out, don’t you?”
“He’s mine, he’s mine, please…” Whumpee dissolves at once, their nose streaming nearly as much as their eyes. “He’s the only thing I have left to remind of… C-Caretaker…”
The little bear—grubby-furred, torn-seamed, still smiling its stitched smile—disappears into Whumper’s custody. “Call it security for next time you act out.”
Whumper makes it wave goodbye before slamming the cell door, tossing the bear into the wastepaper basket on the other side. Whumper shudders as they wipe their hands clean.
That bear reminds them of Caretaker, too.
NO! Whumper threw it away! OOOOOH!!! Why does that give me feels? Poor whumpee. I’m gutted for them. (This is VERY well done.)
Whumper deserves a cake full of nails. We do NOT steal Whumpee’s comfort object–especially when it’s sweet, squeezable, and fromCaretaker! Ugh!
