Nepantla: A Journal Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color

WELCOME TO NEPANTLA

Bridges span liminal (threshold) spaces between worlds, spaces I call nepantla, a Nahuatl word meaning tierra entre medio. Transformations occur in this in-between space, an unstable, unpredictable, precarious, always-in-transition space lacking clear boundaries. Nepantla es tierra desconocida, and living in this liminal zone means being in a constant state of displacement–an uncomfortable, even alarming feeling. Most of us dwell in nepantla so much of the time it’s become a sort of “home.” Though this state links us to other ideas, people, and worlds, we feel threatened by these new connections and the change they engender.

– Gloria Anzaldua

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE

 Nepantla: A Journal Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color is an intentional community space. Our mission is to nurture, celebrate, and preserve diversity within the queer poetry community. Through this journal, we are attempting to center the lives and experiences of QPOC in contemporary America. Thus, we view the journal (and our reading series) as part of a whole artistic project and not individual fragments of work. We believe that (here) the high lyric must encounter colloquial narrative. Here, we must provide space to celebrate both our similarities and our differences. We are one community with an array of experiences; we write in different formats, in different tones, of different circumstances. Nepantla is not the sort of journal that can project a singular voice (not if we want to reflect the various realities of our community). Nepantla is a journal of multiplicity, of continual reinvention.

ACCOUNTABILITY CULTURE

Nepantla is not an apolitical literary journal. We stand strongly against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, xenophobia, etc. We do NOT believe in the notion of “craft” as an excuse to justify oppressive language. If (for some reason) you, the reader, feel discriminated against by the language used in our poems then please let us know. Keep us accountable. We have done our best to provide a safe space for the QPOC community. We hope you enjoy the fierceness!

ISSUE #1

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

To download an epub file of the Nepantla Journal Issue #1 click here.

ISSUE #2

(click image above to access full length pdf of Nepantla Issue #2)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

In conversation: Alok Vaid-Menon & Cece McDonald

In conversation: Carl Phillips & Rickey Laurentiis

To download an epub file of the Nepantla Journal click here.

(Click the image above for a pdf of Nepantla Issue #3)

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* “Hyena (An Absolution Chant for the Beloved Community)” is reprinted by permission from A Toast in the House of Friends (Coffee House Press, 2009). Copyright © 2009 by Akilah Oliver.

** Copyright 2005 June Jordan Literary Estate trust; reprinted by permission. www.junejordan.com

*** Previously published in the cardboard chapbook tierra 2010: poems, songs & a little blood. Chibcha Press, Long Beach, Califas. 2010.

To download an epub file of the Nepantla Journal click here.