Bullets & Butterflies: Queer Spoken Word Poetry

by Emanuel Xavier (Editor)

A luscious, vibrant, and wicked anthology featuring poetry by Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Regie Cabico, Staceyann Chin, Celena Glenn, Daphne Gottlieb, Maurice Jamal, Shane Luitjens, Marty McConnell, Travis Montez, Alix Olson, Shailja Patel, and Horehound Stillpoint.

Genres: Poetry, Queer

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

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

[Brandon Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each of the poems in this collection hits hard with wisdom, compassion, and a expansive sense of humor. When I was done with this book it had sparked a passion in spoken word poetry that has continued to this day.

[Miami University Libraries]

King Library (2nd floor) | PS591.G38 B85 2005

[Shannon T.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

a decent collection. i would have liked less poems per poet and more poets.

[Jaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was filled with wonderful soul-nourishing poems. It was exactly what I needed this past week.

[T.James]

some of my favorite writers contributed to this good read.