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Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color
In 2014, Christopher Soto and Lambda Literary Foundation founded the online journal Nepantla, with the mission to nurture, celebrate, and preserve diversity within the queer poetry community, including contributions as diverse in style and form, as the experiences of QTPOC in the United States. Now, Nepantla will appear for the first time in print as a survey of poetry by queer poets of color throughout U.S. history, including literary legends such as Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, June Jordan, Ai, and Pat Parker alongside contemporaries such as Natalie Diaz, Ocean Vuong, Danez Smith, Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Robin Coste Lewis, Joy Harjo, Richard Blanco, Erika L. Sanchez, Jericho Brown, Carl Phillips, Tommy Pico, Eduardo C. Corral, Chen Chen, and more.
208 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
July 23, 2024
Pretty decent anthology, as far as I can tell; I'm not a poetry guy at all, so my rating should be taken with many grains of salt. I basically chose this book to fulfill one of the Book Riot "Read Harder Challenge" goals. Having said that, there were some poems that definitely moved me and/or tickled me.
September 29, 2022
What do I know about sacred books or men
Nothing
Kazim Ali
Extraordinary, incendiary, scatalogical, brimming with the divine grace born from love, suffering, endurance and epiphany.
One of the best poetry anthologies I have ever read.
Nothing
Kazim Ali
Extraordinary, incendiary, scatalogical, brimming with the divine grace born from love, suffering, endurance and epiphany.
One of the best poetry anthologies I have ever read.
June 8, 2018
Gorgeous, necessary poems about resilience, about sex, about having fun, about struggling. I'm so grateful this anthology exists and I can return to it whenever I need.
Read
December 14, 2022“Lick my butt & call your mother, she misses you.
Flea-dip the cat & lick my butt.
Recycle & lick my butt.”
— from Justin Chin, “Lick My Butt”
“Fuck your order. Fuck your time. I realigned the cosmos. I chaos all the hell you have yet to feel. Now all your kids in the classrooms, they confused. All the clocks: wrong. They don’t even know what the fuck to do.”
— from Fatimah Asghar, “Pluto Shits on the Universe”
“dyke reminds me of Indians
like Indians dykes
are supposed to die out
or forget
or drink all the time
or shatter
go away
to nowhere
to remember what will happen
if they don’t”
— from Paula Gunn Allen, “Some Like Indians Endure”
NEPANTLA is required reading. Full stop.
Flea-dip the cat & lick my butt.
Recycle & lick my butt.”
— from Justin Chin, “Lick My Butt”
“Fuck your order. Fuck your time. I realigned the cosmos. I chaos all the hell you have yet to feel. Now all your kids in the classrooms, they confused. All the clocks: wrong. They don’t even know what the fuck to do.”
— from Fatimah Asghar, “Pluto Shits on the Universe”
“dyke reminds me of Indians
like Indians dykes
are supposed to die out
or forget
or drink all the time
or shatter
go away
to nowhere
to remember what will happen
if they don’t”
— from Paula Gunn Allen, “Some Like Indians Endure”
NEPANTLA is required reading. Full stop.
April 30, 2018
Here are reasons to sing, to shiver, to cry, to snap, to bark, to love, to feel—in resonance. Words to keep near your pillow, and to read on the train, and to keep on your tongue.
EVERY
POEM
HERE
IS
GOOD
love Jared, City Lights Bookseller
EVERY
POEM
HERE
IS
GOOD
love Jared, City Lights Bookseller
January 6, 2021
Hands down one of my favorite books right now. This is an incredible collection. Any poetry lover would adore this book. Amazing poets. Fantastic poetry. All the feels. Fantastic!
April 12, 2023
〝the content and form of the poems in this anthology are as diverse as the people who created them.〞
★★★★★
nepantla: queer poets of color is the first major literary anthology for queer poets of color in the united states. the contents of nepantla span a moderate amount of time and space with the earliest poets being from the harlem renaissance while other poets are just beginning their lives and careers.
this was an anthology done right. I always love picking up poetry anthologies as an easy way to explore new poets and poetry forms but I'm always a bit hesitant going into them because I know that there's always something I'm not going to like. not in this one though. I honestly can't think of one poem I didn't at least like. what set nepantla apart from other poetry anthologies I've read was that it wasn't the themes that tied it together. I personally love binge reading poetry collections like listening to an album so when the themes are all the same it tends to make the whole thing blend together and get kind of boring. nepantla didn't do that because the common denominator was the poets identities and not the themes explored. of course a lot of the poems were about race, gender and sexual orientation but there was also a good mix of just any random theme and I really enjoyed those too. I think that those especially helped break it up a and and also highlighted the serious and more hard hitting poems even more.
cawpile: 9.14
ig: @winterrainreads
★★★★★
nepantla: queer poets of color is the first major literary anthology for queer poets of color in the united states. the contents of nepantla span a moderate amount of time and space with the earliest poets being from the harlem renaissance while other poets are just beginning their lives and careers.
this was an anthology done right. I always love picking up poetry anthologies as an easy way to explore new poets and poetry forms but I'm always a bit hesitant going into them because I know that there's always something I'm not going to like. not in this one though. I honestly can't think of one poem I didn't at least like. what set nepantla apart from other poetry anthologies I've read was that it wasn't the themes that tied it together. I personally love binge reading poetry collections like listening to an album so when the themes are all the same it tends to make the whole thing blend together and get kind of boring. nepantla didn't do that because the common denominator was the poets identities and not the themes explored. of course a lot of the poems were about race, gender and sexual orientation but there was also a good mix of just any random theme and I really enjoyed those too. I think that those especially helped break it up a and and also highlighted the serious and more hard hitting poems even more.
cawpile: 9.14
ig: @winterrainreads
December 14, 2020
...The most beautiful part of your body / is where it's headed. & remember, / loneliness is still time spent / with the world."
This collection is so necessary. From cover to cover, the poems that fill its pages are affirming and challenging and revitalizing all in the same breath. Many of the poets I have read before; however, the chosen pieces so beautifully fit into the anthology's narrative. Of the poets I had not yet read, I was beyond captivated by their lyrics and verse. The poems in Nepantla speak to the queer experience in ways that many other texts struggle. As a queer reader, I saw myself and my community laid bare on the page in ways that spoke to universal feelings of shame, sadness, isolation, pride and frustration. I needed these poems in my life at this moment now more than ever. Neapantla offered a sense of belonging, not so much to its pages, but to the community that filled them.
This collection is so necessary. From cover to cover, the poems that fill its pages are affirming and challenging and revitalizing all in the same breath. Many of the poets I have read before; however, the chosen pieces so beautifully fit into the anthology's narrative. Of the poets I had not yet read, I was beyond captivated by their lyrics and verse. The poems in Nepantla speak to the queer experience in ways that many other texts struggle. As a queer reader, I saw myself and my community laid bare on the page in ways that spoke to universal feelings of shame, sadness, isolation, pride and frustration. I needed these poems in my life at this moment now more than ever. Neapantla offered a sense of belonging, not so much to its pages, but to the community that filled them.
July 1, 2023
this was so good… except for one or two that i didn’t enjoy AS MUCH as the others but overall so good
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March 21, 2025Like most poetry collections, the poems were very hit or miss. Nevertheless, it's important to highlight the importance of this anthology, and I'm glad to have learned about poets I had never read before.
"This anthology was made in the memory of all the queer poets of color who left too soon, especially those who chose to end their lives or who were taken away by the AIDS epidemic."
props to the editor and everyone involved in this brilliant project!
"This anthology was made in the memory of all the queer poets of color who left too soon, especially those who chose to end their lives or who were taken away by the AIDS epidemic."
props to the editor and everyone involved in this brilliant project!
Read
December 10, 2021my personal favorites include thirst by Franny Choi, I Have A Time Machine by Brenda Shaughnessy, and Cenzóntle by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
August 31, 2022
I really enjoyed reading through this anthology! So much good exposure to so many different writers, poetry styles, etc.
June 18, 2018
This is what intersectionality looks like! I can't wait to teach this gorgeous & powerful anthology in my LGBTQ literature course.
Although the book includes poems from writers I love (Harjo, Baldwin, Lorde, Hughes, Jordan, Giovanni, Blanco, Cullen, Hayden, Cullen), I'm most excited about all the poets I want to get to know better.
It's hard to choose a favorite poem out of so many gems, but given what is happening on our border, I'm going to share an excerpt from Rigoberto Gonzalez's list poem titled "The Bordercrosser's Pillowbook." The poem includes eight different lists. Here is the third one:
Although the book includes poems from writers I love (Harjo, Baldwin, Lorde, Hughes, Jordan, Giovanni, Blanco, Cullen, Hayden, Cullen), I'm most excited about all the poets I want to get to know better.
It's hard to choose a favorite poem out of so many gems, but given what is happening on our border, I'm going to share an excerpt from Rigoberto Gonzalez's list poem titled "The Bordercrosser's Pillowbook." The poem includes eight different lists. Here is the third one:
things that forget their shapes
snakes
our bedding
our clothes
the shadows twitching by the fire
the skin of the rabbit--its flesh
an apple
the orange
the jacaranda behind the house
the roof--the clothesline--the curtains
the door that swells in the heat
the pipes that shrink in the cold
the couch--the table--the lamp
the dominoes
the dishes
the children--the wife--the neighbors
memory
September 25, 2020
One of the best poetry anthologies I've read; I felt just about every emotion along the pages. Highly recommended.
November 11, 2024
Er zitten enkele parels tussen, en een aantal gedichten die me helemaal niet konden raken. Niet vreemd voor een poëzie-antologie met zo'n breed spectrum aan verschillende stijlen.
De titel van verzameling verwijst naar een term ontwikkeld door Chicana-academica Gloria Anzaldúa. Nepantla, ontleend uit het Nahuatl, verwijst naar de ruimtes tussen werelden, het liminale, het onbepaalde, het onvoorspelbare. Het verwijst naar transformatie, hybriditeit, en verandering.
De identiteiten die gerepresenteerd worden in de antologie worden dus niet behandeld als statisch; we kunnen ze niet in een duidelijk hokje steken. Eerder is hun identiteit voortdurend verschuivend en veranderend; ze worden niet vastgezet in de categorieën van 'queer' of 'van kleur', maar verkennen net via die categorieën de mogelijkheden van hybride subjectiviteit. En zo is de inhoud van de antologie net zo divers als de auteurs die erin vermeld staan.
De titel van verzameling verwijst naar een term ontwikkeld door Chicana-academica Gloria Anzaldúa. Nepantla, ontleend uit het Nahuatl, verwijst naar de ruimtes tussen werelden, het liminale, het onbepaalde, het onvoorspelbare. Het verwijst naar transformatie, hybriditeit, en verandering.
De identiteiten die gerepresenteerd worden in de antologie worden dus niet behandeld als statisch; we kunnen ze niet in een duidelijk hokje steken. Eerder is hun identiteit voortdurend verschuivend en veranderend; ze worden niet vastgezet in de categorieën van 'queer' of 'van kleur', maar verkennen net via die categorieën de mogelijkheden van hybride subjectiviteit. En zo is de inhoud van de antologie net zo divers als de auteurs die erin vermeld staan.
September 13, 2022
Nepantla is the Nahuatl word for “in-between”. It is used as a state of being as much as it is literally. “In-between-ness” in this sense, translates to intersectionality. I can’t think of a better way to describe this book than its meaningful title.
My relationship with poetry anthologies has been predominantly all or nothing. Amazing or torturous. Thankfully it wasn’t the lukewarm use of nepantla, but rather the one that encompasses a multitude of beings. Not limbo, but uncategorizable everything.
It was nice seeing familiar–iconic–names: Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, June Jordan, and Pat Parker. Unfamiliar poets were also exciting, my absolute favorite poems were by Ka’imilani Leota-Sellers and Madison Johnson. The first writer details their native cuisine in scrumptious detail. The next is a piece talking about a food network show. It brings forth salient points about racism and how it is ever-present in our society. Yes, they’re both about food. You caught me, I’m a foodie.
Nepantla opens a doorway to a whole new world of talented artists. When I have the chance, I need to add all of these people’s books to my want-to-read list. I loved everything about this book, the creators, the work, the font they were presented with, the lineup, and even the paper felt sturdy, strong to hold all the poems but soft to the touch. Reading it was a meditation on all the words. Even more textualized by the format and physical copy. It’s obvious that every inch of its being was curated and thoughtfully selected.
This creates an atmosphere where the reader can completely immerse themself. Thinking of nothing but what’s right in front of them. With every book read, we grow. We shift like an uncertain planet developing a place where life can exist. Nepantla is the smell of rain after a storm, it is warm, and always supplied with filling food that reminds you of home. I’d like to live here. In nepantla. Embracing the in-between.
My relationship with poetry anthologies has been predominantly all or nothing. Amazing or torturous. Thankfully it wasn’t the lukewarm use of nepantla, but rather the one that encompasses a multitude of beings. Not limbo, but uncategorizable everything.
It was nice seeing familiar–iconic–names: Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, June Jordan, and Pat Parker. Unfamiliar poets were also exciting, my absolute favorite poems were by Ka’imilani Leota-Sellers and Madison Johnson. The first writer details their native cuisine in scrumptious detail. The next is a piece talking about a food network show. It brings forth salient points about racism and how it is ever-present in our society. Yes, they’re both about food. You caught me, I’m a foodie.
Nepantla opens a doorway to a whole new world of talented artists. When I have the chance, I need to add all of these people’s books to my want-to-read list. I loved everything about this book, the creators, the work, the font they were presented with, the lineup, and even the paper felt sturdy, strong to hold all the poems but soft to the touch. Reading it was a meditation on all the words. Even more textualized by the format and physical copy. It’s obvious that every inch of its being was curated and thoughtfully selected.
This creates an atmosphere where the reader can completely immerse themself. Thinking of nothing but what’s right in front of them. With every book read, we grow. We shift like an uncertain planet developing a place where life can exist. Nepantla is the smell of rain after a storm, it is warm, and always supplied with filling food that reminds you of home. I’d like to live here. In nepantla. Embracing the in-between.
June 13, 2024
the world would be a better place if everyone had to read this book <3
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February 21, 2025A great, varied collection of poetry from so many incredible authors! I really and truly loved this :)
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May 4, 2024intrinsically anthologies like this are going to feel a little discontinuous and waver up and down in quality, though defo some heaters. i earmarked the ones that made me want to read more by the same author.
i do wish there was some organization to this; i guess by virtue of being so intersectional and queer i'd be loath if i were an editor to separate the poems by any specific theme or identity. but maybe chronologically by decade would have been v edifying. like, james baldwin and langston hughes (i had no idea he was probably gay!) practically book-end this collection; but it'd be cooler to draw connections about themes and style over historical time across all these poems i think. and also maybe some autobiographical info about each poet woulda been cool, too. but there certainly are a lot of 'em so i get it.
i definitely think this book is reading to get a nice survey of queer poets of color to you can deep dive into ones that catch your eye.
i do wish there was some organization to this; i guess by virtue of being so intersectional and queer i'd be loath if i were an editor to separate the poems by any specific theme or identity. but maybe chronologically by decade would have been v edifying. like, james baldwin and langston hughes (i had no idea he was probably gay!) practically book-end this collection; but it'd be cooler to draw connections about themes and style over historical time across all these poems i think. and also maybe some autobiographical info about each poet woulda been cool, too. but there certainly are a lot of 'em so i get it.
i definitely think this book is reading to get a nice survey of queer poets of color to you can deep dive into ones that catch your eye.
September 11, 2019
This is a really incredible anthology that manages to collect decades' worth of work by queer poets of color and give you an amazing taste of the variety and possibility. I want to go out and read so much more work by all these poets; it has works by the sort of "obvious" poets, but also newer, then-up-and-coming poets, and poets whose work is perhaps less immediately thought of. Favorite poems in this include Denice Frohman's "once a marine biologist/told me octopuses have three hearts", "Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong" by Ocean Vuong, "Heavy" by Hieu Minh Nguyen, and "Wet Dream" by Allyson Ang. Honestly though, I loved pretty much all of these poems, and their variety is really a strength of this collection.
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June 25, 2020this is probably a five star because it's an absolutely stunning collection of poetry they've put together here, but i don't know if or how you rate something that has over a hundred different voices in it. anyway. who knew i was a poetry peron after all? i'll admit that some of them still left me as a big question mark where i hadn't understood a single word, but some also hit me right where they were supposed too.
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June 10, 2024This is, undoubtedly, one of the best poetry anthologies I have ever read. I use sticky notes to mark my favorite pages and with this one, I used them all up so quickly they ended up on every other page! The selection is fantastic and each and every poem brings something of its own of the force, energy, humor and eroticism of American queer poets of color. Unmissable!
I am trying to select ten poems to remember, so:
🖊️Caleb Luna - feeding me starving. For its flow and how it talks about eroticism and desire in relation to fatness: „thinness and penetration don’t have to / be about power”.
🖊️Meredith Talusan - DataLounge - Gay Celebrity Gossip, Gay Politics, Gay News and Pointless Bitchery since 1995. For taking back what people said about her and repurposing it.
🖊️Essex Hemphill - American Wedding. For how powerful it is, hot & romantic in reclaiming a dream: “In american / I place my ring / on your cock / where it belongs.”
🖊️Brenda Shaughnessy - I have a time machine. For the way it bends the unbendable timeline, memory and future unfolding together, even though “the past is so horribly fast”.
🖊️Allyson Ang - Wet Dream. For how it names desire, sleek & full of itself: “it’s embarrassing, how bad I want you / how wet I am, like you could drown in me.”.
🖊️George Abraham - Excerpt from Inheritance. For how it reclaims Palestinian history & language, for how it uses the space of the page to prod, criticize, scream.
🖊️Mark Aguhar - Litanies to my heavenly brown body. Because it is a litany, and it soothes one to say/scream it: “FUCK YOUR WHITENESS / FUCK YOUR BEAUTY (...) BLESSED ARE THE BOI DYKES”.
🖊️Justin Chin - Lick my butt. Because queer theory is to be licked :) “Lick my butt & tell me about / Michel Foucault’s theories of deconstruction”.
🖊️Assotto Saint - The Language of Dust. For carrying grief forward, no matter how heavy the weight of the lost loved one is.
🖊️Kokumo - Fuck U’s. For being so powerful and unapologetic: “Ta evry light-skinned person who thought I was ova-exaggeratin. / Fuck you bitch!”.
I am trying to select ten poems to remember, so:
🖊️Caleb Luna - feeding me starving. For its flow and how it talks about eroticism and desire in relation to fatness: „thinness and penetration don’t have to / be about power”.
🖊️Meredith Talusan - DataLounge - Gay Celebrity Gossip, Gay Politics, Gay News and Pointless Bitchery since 1995. For taking back what people said about her and repurposing it.
🖊️Essex Hemphill - American Wedding. For how powerful it is, hot & romantic in reclaiming a dream: “In american / I place my ring / on your cock / where it belongs.”
🖊️Brenda Shaughnessy - I have a time machine. For the way it bends the unbendable timeline, memory and future unfolding together, even though “the past is so horribly fast”.
🖊️Allyson Ang - Wet Dream. For how it names desire, sleek & full of itself: “it’s embarrassing, how bad I want you / how wet I am, like you could drown in me.”.
🖊️George Abraham - Excerpt from Inheritance. For how it reclaims Palestinian history & language, for how it uses the space of the page to prod, criticize, scream.
🖊️Mark Aguhar - Litanies to my heavenly brown body. Because it is a litany, and it soothes one to say/scream it: “FUCK YOUR WHITENESS / FUCK YOUR BEAUTY (...) BLESSED ARE THE BOI DYKES”.
🖊️Justin Chin - Lick my butt. Because queer theory is to be licked :) “Lick my butt & tell me about / Michel Foucault’s theories of deconstruction”.
🖊️Assotto Saint - The Language of Dust. For carrying grief forward, no matter how heavy the weight of the lost loved one is.
🖊️Kokumo - Fuck U’s. For being so powerful and unapologetic: “Ta evry light-skinned person who thought I was ova-exaggeratin. / Fuck you bitch!”.
March 13, 2020
A fantastic anthology featuring a staggering array of different kinds of poems, reflecting the wide diversity of queer experience. This is a fantastic place to start if you're looking for an introduction to some of the best queer poets working today. Many (though not all) of these poets have collections that I will now be seeking out.
April 2, 2021
Another access point / entry point into the many stations on the queer spectrum, the spectrum of race and its various intersections. Communing with these thoughts, these stories, these world views takes on the guise of a sacred act - a vulnerable exposure - and ultimately, a nudge for transformation.
October 4, 2021
Anthologies are so fun— you might not love anything but you'll walk away with an introduction to plenty of fresh voices. I particularly loved the poems of Denice Frohman, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Richard Blanco, and Allyson Ang.
Giving it 4.5 stars because I don't like how the Table of Contents is set up nor is there an index/artist bios >:-/
Giving it 4.5 stars because I don't like how the Table of Contents is set up nor is there an index/artist bios >:-/
December 28, 2020
An anthology of queer poets of color, meticulously curated and covering a myriad of styles and subjects. It’s not only a fantastic resource for discovering queer writers of color, but a cornucopia of different poetic styles — a great starting point for any reader deciding to explore poetry for the first time.
March 2, 2021
A wonderful compilation of QTBIPOC poets. There is a great need to create compilations like this to preserve and celebrate our identities as queer people, as people of color and as poets so that our stories and experiences are not lost and forgotten.
July 23, 2021
Black Sonnet( by Candace Williams )
A black child lies in blood and I’m still black
I scan news on my phone and I’m still black
The call my name to board and I’m still black
I sit and sip a Sprite and I’m still black
We take off right on time and I’m still black
I peer at vast blue sea and I’m still black
I take my black tea black and I’m still black
I read a piece by Marx and I’m still black
I get lost and turn back and I’m still black
I make the right slight right and I’m still black
I ring the front bell twice and I’m still black
My love smiles with her eyes and I’m still black
We kick it for a bit and I’m still black
I turn off all the lights and I’m still black
This poems in this book came along at just the right time for me. They remind me that speaking our truth can turn pain into beauty and give us something to hold on to when we feel we’re sinking.
I’ll have this book forever
A black child lies in blood and I’m still black
I scan news on my phone and I’m still black
The call my name to board and I’m still black
I sit and sip a Sprite and I’m still black
We take off right on time and I’m still black
I peer at vast blue sea and I’m still black
I take my black tea black and I’m still black
I read a piece by Marx and I’m still black
I get lost and turn back and I’m still black
I make the right slight right and I’m still black
I ring the front bell twice and I’m still black
My love smiles with her eyes and I’m still black
We kick it for a bit and I’m still black
I turn off all the lights and I’m still black
This poems in this book came along at just the right time for me. They remind me that speaking our truth can turn pain into beauty and give us something to hold on to when we feel we’re sinking.
I’ll have this book forever
March 1, 2022
this is kind of impossible to rate cause every poem is so different but overall i loved this collection. some poems i didn't care for at all but so many i loved! my favourite was by far "self-portrait as unidentified Palestinian Village, post Nakba".
May 10, 2022
important collection - will give you a lot to think about and a lot to explore. if i can say - appreciated all the different emotions and tenors, too, the book will neither drag you down or pump you up, except to read and learn and connect more.
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