Radiance

by Emanuel Xavier

"Emanuel Xavier's newest book radiates in diverse directions, back into a past of New York club kid glamour and violence, into a family history of lost connections, and into loves forfeited and found-all of which the poet illumines with steady-eyed honesty. Finally, as he confronts a health challenge to the very brain that is the root-place of these sharp and poignant poems, radiation becomes radiance, a hard-won inner light that lets us all see how 'splendid is our survival.'" —David Groff, author of Clay

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, ebook

First published May 17, 2016

About the author

Emanuel Xavier helped open the doors for queer poets of color to take center stage and speak their truths. Through passion and perseverance, he emerged as an LGBTQ+ icon, as proclaimed by The Equality Forum. Long before diversity, equity, and inclusion became buzzwords, Xavier gave voice to his lived experiences, confronting politics, sexuality, and religion in poetry collections such as Pier Queen, Americano, If Jesus Were Gay, Nefarious, and Radiance.

Following Selected Poems of Emanuel Xavier—named one of Kirkus’ Best Indie Poetry Collections of 2021—he returned to an intimate exploration of Latinx and LGBTQ+ culture, community, and identity with Love(ly) Child (Rebel Satori Press, 2023), a finalist for the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry. His forthcoming collection, Still, We Are Sacred (Rebel Satori Press, 2026), continues this work with poems of survival, resistance, and unapologetic queer joy.

Reviews

[Naz (Read Diverse Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed these poems, even as a poetry novice. Taken as a whole, the poems narrate the life, in vignettes, of a flawed but deeply sympathetic man who is rendered raw and vulnerable on the page. This man is presumably the poet himself, but it's not necessary to attach a real face to the man whose life is depicted in the poems.

The poems are memorable, the feelings they will evoke in you are real and complicated, and the journey it will take you on is surprisingly large in scope. As a Queer Latinx, these poems resonated with me profoundly, but the authenticity of the experiences laid out on the page should ring true and appear unequivocally and universally human for any reader.

Read this book! You will finish it in one sitting and immediately want to reread it.

Full review will be up on my blog in a few weeks!

[willowdog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrative, autobiographical poetry tells his story. Enjoy Xavier’s work. Always interesting. New York Puerto Rican with a varied life.

[S.M. Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little poetry book is radiant. There is fear and pain and sorrow and hope. There is wishing for life to have been different, and gratitude for what life has given. What else is there to say? This book of poetry contains the honest and beautiful heart of Emanuel Xavier... "one of the first openly gay Nuyorican poets, a long time gay rights activist, AIDS activist and homeless youth advocate." [quote pulled from author bio]

This is a heart worth knowing.