Lambda Literary Workshop!

Thanks to the opportunity granted to me by Sigma Tau Delta this summer, I was awarded the Stemmler/Dennis LGBT& Award by Lambda Literary, an organization that advocates for queer writers, and they've generously posted my piece Grime on their website available for public viewing.

Moreover, I was selected to attend this year's workshop held by them! It’s a huge honor that I've only been able to dream about. Because I write fiction, I was placed into the Fiction cohort, headed by author Alejandro Varela (it's been a pleasure getting acquainted with his work- I highly recommend his short story collection The People Who Report More Stress.).

Hopefully with this workshop I will be able go develop a few projects I've had hidden away. Again, major thank you to Sigma Tau Delta and Lambda Literary for uplifting young, marginalized writers like myself.

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Sigma Tau Delta Convention - Grime

Today, I found out I was chosen to attend the Sigma Tau Delta Convention in NOLA. It's a great privilege to be able to share my work on this level. The theme for this year is "Second Lines & New Beginnings." I realized I wanted to write something inspired by my culture, Mexican culture, and I remembered my poem "Dirt." Things just kind of clicked for me from there. In total, I spent about four days on this piece, with about three rounds of editing to make sure everything was the way I wanted it. Grime Papá, now that I'm looking at your hands for the last time, I noticed that the space under your fingernails is clean for the first time since I've known you. Your job as a mechanic was unkind to your body, but especially your hands. I remember how motor oil and dirt clung even to the creases of your calluses following a long day of work, as if it came from beneath your skin. I wonder what the morticians did to get it out. They've laid you in a coff...

It Gets Better Queerbook 2024 - My Colors

I'm proud to announce that a poem of mine has been published in a collection created by the It Gets Better Project, a non-profit dedicated to LGBT empowerment for young people globally. The book features amazing work from other writers and artists; it was such a treat to read through and see it all. The theme is "queer utopia." In a perfect world, queerness would be another element of the world, of nature itself. Thank you to the It Gets Better Project for this opportunity. My Colors I want to show the sun my colors Every one between pink, white and blue I want to stand in an open field And let the light shine through I want my stained-glass shadow To be cast down below On the ground that birthed me The ground that loves me so I want the warmth's kiss And the wind's passing caress I want to know, deeply Who I am, then effloresce I want to have no doubts, no fear As I change and change again Flowing like a heavy rain Between masculine and femme I want to show t...

Dirt

I've never once Seen my father's nails Cleansed, under them lies A layer of undisclosed grime Maybe it's some motor oil Hopes he had clung into Like dirt, fresh

Ashley Guerrero

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