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A Home in Her Own Words: Meet Kaniz Hossain
Poet and visual artist Kaniz Hossain uses writing to reclaim identity, challenge silence, and create community. Her Bengali-American heritage and experience growing up in a Muslim household inform her poetry, which confronts topics like mental health, womanhood, and faith. Through her platform House of Khaos, Kaniz cultivates creative spaces for underrepresented voices. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, she reflects on self-publishing, the power of representation, and poetry as both refuge and resistance.
On Breaking Boundaries and Uncovering Truth: Meet Jessica Payes
Through her poetry collections, Manipulated and Temporary Lovers, poet Jessica Payes addresses mental health, heartbreak, and emotional growth with unfiltered honesty. Her work challenges societal taboos, offering healing and connection to readers navigating similar paths. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, Jessica opens up about grief, resilience, and her journey of using poetry as both self-expression and survival.
Writing as a Bridge Between Identity and Community: Meet Aurelia Luciano
Dominican American poet and community organizer Aurelia Luciano turns poetry into a mirror, a bridge, and a movement. Writing from her Afro-Latinx identity, she transforms personal history into collective power. In this Beyond the Narrative feature, Aurelia opens up about healing through writing, building safe creative spaces, and redefining storytelling as a tool for growth, identity, and liberation. Her voice is both an offering and an invitation.
Embracing Duality and Cultural Identity: Meet Cecilia Dagdagan
Filipina-American poet Cecilia shares her powerful story of embracing cultural identity, self-discovery, and creative expression in this Beyond the Narrative interview. Through her poetry and prose, Cecilia reflects on leaving behind comfort to find her voice, honoring her ancestry, and reclaiming space for multifaceted identity. Her chapbook Shades of Suede is a tribute to healing, movement, and the strength found in vulnerability.
Nikki Giovanni: A Voice That Helped Shape Poetry, Culture, and Civil Rights
This blog honors the life and influence of Nikki Giovanni, one of the most impactful poets of our time. It reflects on her role in shaping civil rights discourse through poetry, explores the genre’s historical marginalization, and highlights why publishing poetry remains a vital act of resistance. Drawing from Giovanni’s legacy, it also points readers toward resources for navigating poetry publishing in today’s literary landscape.
Systemic Racism and Inequity in Book Publishing
The publishing industry has historically exhibited discriminatory and systemic biases that have impacted marginalized individuals for decades, specifically BIPOC writers. Racial and cultural partiality heavily influences acquisitions in the literary world, and mainstream book writing and publishing practices have perpetuated stigmas and stereotypes against BIPOC.
The First Author in Recorded History is a Woman: Meet Sumerian Priestess, Enheduanna
Enheduanna, a Sumerian priestess from ancient Mesopotamia, is the first known author in recorded history. As a poet, political figure, and high priestess, she used her writing to unify empires, praise powerful female deities, and speak truth to power. This blog explores her legacy, her influence on literature, and the historical debate around her authorship, while reflecting on how her work continues to inspire women writers today.
120 Years of Poetry: 16 Influential Black Women Poets From Then to Now
We’re highlighting 120 years of Black women excellence in poetry and literature, showcasing famous Black women poets whose work has left its mark on the literary, and political, world. Each of these women has used their poetry, essays, and spoken word to create a lasting impact on the awareness and advocacy of the Black experience—and for women overall.