Guest Edited and Introduced by Camilo Loaiza Bonilla
This is a folio of queer poetry in queer forms by queer writers. As ongoing violence and erasure target trans and queer lives, this folio insists on holding space for play and joy. By breaking down gender and genre binaries and boundary lines, I hope for this folio to be a container of radical possibilities for better futures. Here, four trans and genderqueer creative practitioners each work across disciplines in distinct ways:
In “For the Aswangs who are your best friends (a triad),” Kay Ulanday Barrett—genderqueer poet and performer—queers Filipino folklore through an exploration of the shape-shifting Aswang as best friend (read: lover), using erasure and collage to dismantle legend and language across three sections. In “Saáyawi or Sal de Víbora de Cascabel,” féi iká shumarí—two spirit/trans woman writer and visual artist—queers artwork by Roy Lichtenstein by turning form on its head and replacing the visual with the literal. Ching-In Chen—genderqueer writer and community organizer—queers language and literally takes our breath away in “Spell for Learning How to Break,” as they build community through a chorus of breaths. Finally, Cai Sherley—transmasc poet and visual artist—closes the folio with a note of play and joy as he queers ideas of memory—was it always Berenstain?—through an interactive crossword in “Mandela Effect.”
My sincere gratitude to Tupelo Quarterly for inviting me to edit this folio; to Kay Ulanday Barrett, féi iká shumarí, Ching-In Chen, and Cai Sherley for trusting me with their work; and to you, reader, for your care and community. To my trans siblings: May this folio remind you that you are not alone—stay.
Camilo Loaiza Bonilla (he/him/él) is a Latine writer working to unwind generational silence as a queer, trans, first-generation immigrant. Exploring the intersection of poetry and visual art, he is the 2025-2026 Eleanor Merritt Fellow at The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Find him @camiloloaizabonilla on Instagram and at camiloloaizabonilla.com.