A random collection of over 1910 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
Full title: "Holy Wild" by Gwen Benaway.
"In her third collection of poetry, Holy Wild, Gwen Benaway explores the complexities of being an Indigenous trans woman in expansive lyric poems. She holds up the Indigenous trans body as a site of struggle, liberation, and beauty. A confessional poet, Benaway narrates her sexual and romantic intimacies with partners as well as her work to navigate the daily burden of transphobia and violence.
She examines the intersections of Indigenous and trans experience through autobiographical poems and continues to speak to the legacy of abuse, violence, and colonial erasure that defines Canada. Her sparse lines, interwoven with English and Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), illustrate the wonder and power of Indigenous trans womanhood in motion. Holy Wild is not an easy book, as Benaway refuses to give any simple answers, but it is a profoundly vibrant and beautiful work filled with a transcendent grace."
Gwen Benaway is a Canadian poet, writer, and advocate for the rights of transgender and Indigenous people. She was born in Wingham, Ontario, Canada, and is of Anishinaabe and Métis descent. Benaway is known for her work that explores themes of identity, love, and trauma, often drawing from her personal experiences as a trans woman and Indigenous person. She has published several collections of poetry, including "Ceremonies for the Dead," which won the 2016 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers.
Her poetry often reflects on the intersections of her identity and the challenges faced by Indigenous and transgender communities. In addition to her work as a writer, Gwen Benaway is an advocate for the rights of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ individuals. She has been involved in community organizing and activism, addressing issues such as violence against Indigenous women and the rights of trans people.
2018,
Canada,
English,
Gwen Benaway,
Full title: "Passage" by Gwen Benaway.
"In her second collection of poetry, Passage, Gwen Benaway examines what it means to experience violence and speaks to the burden of survival. Traveling to Northern Ontario and across the Great Lakes, Passage is a poetic voyage through divorce, family violence, legacy of colonization, and the affirmation of a new sexuality and gender. Previously published as a man, Passage is the poet's first collection written as a transwoman. Striking and raw in sparse lines, the collection showcases a vital Two Spirited identity that transects borders of race, gender, and experience.
In Passage, the poet seeks to reconcile herself to the land, the history of her ancestors, and her separation from her partner and family by invoking the beauty and power of her ancestral waterways. Building on the legacy of other ground-breaking Indigenous poets like Gregory Scofield and Queer poets like Tim Dlugos, Benaway's work is deeply personal and devastating in sharp, clear lines. Passage is a book burning with a beautiful intensity and reveals Benaway as one of the most powerful emerging poets writing in Indigenous poetics today."
2016,
Canada,
English,
Gwen Benaway,
Full title: "Ceremonies for the Dead" by Gwen Benaway.
"Ceremonies for the Dead is an award-winning collection of poems that examine the haunting themes of inter-generational trauma, cyclical abuse, and inherited grief. Four generations of the dead take turns narrating these themes, navigating from the Great Lakes through the Appalachian Mountains, and examining the fur trade, an exile from Minnesota, the experiences of West Virginia coal miners, and the legacy of mission schools. Black humour and satire fill the collection, illuminating a fierce determination to survive and resist colonization and the endurance of culture and identity under extreme duress."
2013,
Canada,
English,
Gwen Benaway,
