When a book manages to be both deeply personal and universally resonant, it deserves to be called visionary. Transitions, edited by Danielle Hopkins with a foreword by Juno Roche, is one such book. A one-of-a-kind anthology, it gathers together the writing of eight emerging trans and non-binary voices from the UK, all of whom were selected through the inaugural JKP Writing Prize. With “the trans everyday” as its theme, the collection is more than a showcase of literary talent, it is a love letter to the trans community, a defiant celebration of joy, and a call to reimagine what trans storytelling can be.
At its heart, Transitions asks: what does it mean to be trans today, and every day? The answer, of course, is not one story, but many. From the sharp sting of anxiety before stepping out the door, to the exhilaration of wild swimming, to the peculiar time-warp of reliving adolescence in adulthood, the stories gathered here map the terrain of trans life in all its variety. Together, they affirm that while hardship and marginalization remain ever-present, so too do solidarity, humor, love, and liberation.
The anthology opens with a clear statement of intent. As Sabah Choudrey, one of the competition judges, notes in the introduction, trans stories are too often reduced to trauma. “We, as trans, non-binary and genderfluid people, know that our stories are often portrayed as negative, painful or heart-breaking. That might be what we carry every day but it isn’t our lives every day. We are more than that.”
The stories that follow embody this ethos. They acknowledge the undercurrent of struggle, but refuse to stop there. Instead, they turn their gaze toward joy, resilience, and the quieter yet equally radical acts of living authentically.
