new words
issue no. 4
new words issue no 4. a trans* & gender-expansive poetry & hybrid journal. cover art by Painter.
table of contents
issue four contributors
Featuring Lane Devers’ collection I wish you had married an astronaut.
Lane Devers is from Carbondale, Colorado. His work has appeared or is forthcoming from places like the Adroit Journal, Heavy Feather Review, DREGINALD, Juked, and elsewhere. His first chapbook “Antarctica is not the Moon” is out from Beyond Words Press. He currently attends Reed College.
Thank you to all our amazing contributors. This is unique collection of work that highlights the contributions of trans* poets to the world of poetics- ever pushing forward. Support these trans writers and nw{p}. Follow them and buy a copy of issue four.
Haper Walton
(they/them) is a writer, editor and tutor from Bath. Their poetry, fiction and essays have been featured by 1883 Magazine, Whitechapel Gallery, Venice Biennale and more. They achieved third place in the Brick Lane Bookshop short story prize, and have won two Young Poets Network challenges.
ALUKAH
(they/them) is a nonbinary cyborg poet and anti-zionist Jew who loves the exploration of transpoetics; the trans experience as poetry; a poem as a new form of the body. With inspiration from minimalist independent film, ALUKAH attempts to reconstruct their life–primarily their coming of age– as a poetic homevideo.
Anastasia Jill
(they/them, ze/hir)is a queer writer living in Central Florida. They have been nominated for Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, and several other honors. Their work has been featured or is upcoming with Poets.org, Sundog Lit, Flash Fiction Online, Contemporary Verse 2, Broken Pencil, and more.
https://www.instagram.com/anastasiajillies
Karalee Garcia
is a queer Filipinx American, student, & librarian assistant at Everett Community College. Her poetry’s been printed in EvCC’s art & literature magazine, “Vibrations,” in 2021 & 2022 and in the “Whispers of the World” anthology edited by Shreya Mishra in 2023.
Alex Crooks
is a writer in Kent, Ohio. She recently graduated Kent State University where she was an editor for Brainchild Magazine. Her poetry is soaked in dirt and grime, exploring perseverence in the midwest.
Andar Wӓrje
(he/him) is a queer and trans writer whose work has appeared in magazines including The Malahat Review, The Literary Review of Canada, Grain, Room, Event, Descant, CV2, The Dalhousie Review, and carte blanche, and anthologies including Acceptance: Stories at the Centre of Us (Engen Books, 2021).
SG Huerta
is a queer Xicanx writer, editor, and activist. He edits poetry for Abode Press and is the author of the forthcoming nonfiction chapbook GOOD GRIEF (fifth wheel press 2025). Their work has appeared in The Offing, Honey Literary, Infrarrealista Review, and elsewhere. Find them at sghuertawriting.com
Hans Kesling
is a poet living in Portland Oregon. They earned their MFA in creative writing, with a focus in poetry, from Indiana University in 2019. You can find their work in The Elevation Review, About Place Journal, Arkana, the Same, T(OUR) Magazine, Gobshite Quarterly, and Oregon Poetic Voices.
Ash Reynolds
(they/them) is a nonbinary, queer, ace poet living in College Park, MD, USA with their rescue dog and 41 houseplants. Ash has written their whole life but is new to getting their work published. Find Ash gardening, Lego-ing, and squirrel- & bird-watching from the kitchen window.
Blayne Hessinger Waterloo
(they/she) is a horror writer and editor living in Georgia with their partner and loud dog.
Johnny T
received an M.F.A from UTEP in 2024 and their poetry has appeared in “Berkeley Poetry Review”, “West Trade Review”, “Allegory Ridge”, “Cardinal Sins”, “Triggerfish Critical Review”, “Ignatian Literary Magazine”, “New Plains Review” and more. Fiction by Johnny has won the 2020 Mikrokosmos Fiction Contest.
Zeke Shomler
is a trasgender poet and an MA/MFA candidate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His work has appeared in Anodyne, Sierra Nevada Review, Folio, and elsewhere,
J. M.Q.
(he/him) is a trans poet and storyteller based in the Pacific Northwest.
JC Alfier
(she/her) most recent book of poetry, The Shadow Field, was published by Louisiana Literature Press (2020) under her former gender. Journal credits include New York Quarterly, Notre Dame Review, Penn Review, River Styx, and Vassar Review. She is also an artist doing collage and double-exposure work.
Chelsie Nunn
(they/them) is an artist and educator working in Knoxville, TN.
Aaron Beck
is a poet and pianist living in Portland, Oregon.
Risha Nicole
is a poet, author, and teaching artist from Sandusky, Ohio. Risha is the author of poetry collections, Without A Sound, and As long as I live you are with me. Their third upcoming collection; Dying Girl is on coming of age; exploring religion, sexual abuse, and queer identity.
Painter
(they/them) is a musician/writer/visual artist/multidimensional being having a human experience. Originally from Maine, they are currently getting weird at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Find them playing violin with artists of all types, most regularly accompanying improv quantum punk band Black Market Translation.
Daniel Dykiel
(he/they) is a nonbinary poet and prose writer living in St. Petersburg, FL. He writes mainly about monstrosity. Daniel has been published in various magazines and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of South Florida. You can find him at ddykiel.github.io
Peter Grieco
is a poet, song writer, musician, former professor, and retired school bus driver from Buffalo. His collection of ekphrastic verse, “The Blind Man’s Meal,” is available from Finishing Line Press.
Eric Wittkopf
has tried this before. See, for example, Wild Roof Journal, Half and One, and Sepia Quarterly. He is a past Pushcart nominee. Check for fingerprints. There might have been a contest, somewhere.
heidi andrea restrepo rhodes
is a queer, nb, sick/disabled, brown/Colombian, poet, scholar, educator, and cultural worker. They are author of the poetry collections, The Inheritance of Haunting and ephemeral. They want to meet you to make portals to otherworlds through healing justice, crip politics and poetics, and surfing.
Gabriel Noel
is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet who received his Bachelor’s for Theatre Arts and English at Salem State University. Gabriel’s work has previously been featured by new words {press} as well as Arachne Press, Jelly Bucket Journal, New Note Poetry, Moonstones Art Center, & BarBar Publishing.
E.G. Harcourt
draws inspiration from sci-fi, horror, punk culture, and his experiences growing up in post-colonial Hong Kong, to create stories about organized religion, technology, and cultural and existential identity. He was a contributor to Homeroom Magazine and new words {press}, in which he has also been a guest reader.
Korey Grecek
(they/she/he) is a poet, playwright and actor from Pittsburgh. Korey graduated from Penn State University with their BFA in Acting. Korey is queer, non-binary, transfeminine and self-proclaimed Fat™. They love to center these themes in their work.
angelic goldsky
(t[he?]y) is a queer trans Jewish multi-disciplinary artist immersed in the uses of spoken word, media art, music, and magic for transmuting complex trauma into rhythm, release, and ultimately, permanent liberation. Angelic was shortlisted for the Canadian League of Poets Canadian Spoken Word Award (2024).
Farrah Fang
(she/her) is a Latina trans woman, born and raised in Houston, TX. She is the author of the poetry chapbook “Quererme En La Luz” published by Abode Press. She is an advocate for the liberation of trans people across the world.
Anthony Xavier Jackson
is a Sacramento based poet and performer. You may find his work in Tule Review 2023 and Poets News. Anthony Xavier Jackson musical spoken word is on soundcloud.com/anthony-x-jackson. His poem, Liquid Diamonds has been published by The Word’s Faire.He is a founding member of GTFO Poetry Collective.
Andie Brynn Weaver
is a nonbinary writer living in Charlottesville, Virginia. When they aren’t writing, they are studying to become an archivist and naming every groundhog in their yard “Horace.”
Hayden Berry
(he/they) is a writer, drag king, and alum of the Iowa Young Writers Studio living in Philadelphia. His work has been published in Baltimore Beat, Grub Street, and Vassar Student Review. When they’re not being artsy, you can usually find them playing Minecraft or reading sci-fi books.
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