Barbara Marie Minney’s If There’s No Heaven is a profoundly moving and courageous poetry collection that charts the deeply personal journey of a transgender woman embracing her authentic self later in life. As a native of West Virginia and a seventh-generation Appalachian, Barbara brings a distinctive voice shaped by her rich cultural roots, her Christian faith, and her complex experience of gender transition at age sixty-three after decades of repression.
Winner of the 2020 Poetry Is Life Book Award and recognized as an Akron Beacon Journal Best Northeast Ohio Book that same year, If There’s No Heaven is much more than a collection of poems. It is a lyrical memoir that serves as both an intimate confession and a bold challenge to societal norms and stereotypes surrounding gender, faith, and identity.
Barbara’s poetry unfolds with a raw honesty and clarity that invites readers into the first two years of her transition. As she writes, these pages document not only her struggles and triumphs but also the process of reclaiming her identity as the woman she was “always intended to be,” a journey she undertook after repressing her true gender for over sixty years.
In my 2023 interview with Barbara, she shared candidly about her transition being very public, including her participation in a multi-page local newspaper article featuring photographs and her experiences with gender counseling. She spoke about the mixed responses she received, from admiration for her bravery to criticism of her appearance, and how the transition cost her friendships, social standing, and participation in longstanding community groups. This personal history adds profound weight to the poems in If There’s No Heaven, making the collection not only a literary work but a testament to resilience and authenticity.
Barbara’s voice is grounded in her Appalachian heritage, lending her work a distinct regional flavor enriched by natural imagery and cultural references that deepen the emotional resonance of her poems. Her writing also serves as a quiet activism, gently yet firmly advocating for acceptance and understanding of transgender individuals, especially those navigating conservative or faith-based communities.
In addition to If There’s No Heaven, Barbara has authored several other notable works, including Poetic Memoir Chapbook Challenge (2021) and Dance Naked With God (2023). Her poetry and essays have appeared in prestigious publications such as Politico, The Buckeye Flame, The Gasconade Review, Gargoyle Magazine, and Women Speak: Women of Appalachia Project, among others. Her work has even been translated into Spanish, reflecting its broad appeal and importance.
Barbara’s journey from a retired attorney to an award-winning poet and quiet activist living in Tallmadge, Ohio, with her wife and a menagerie of stuffed animals, is inspiring and instructive. If There’s No Heaven stands as a vital contribution to both Appalachian literature and transgender voices in poetry, a powerful reminder of the human capacity for transformation, love, and hope.
For those interested in a deeper understanding of Barbara Marie Minney’s life and poetic mission, I highly recommend reading my in-depth interview with her, available at The Heroines of My Life blog. The conversation provides invaluable context and insight into the experiences that shaped this remarkable collection.
Available via barbaramarieminneypoetry
Photo via Heroines of My Life
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