About the Book
Pájaros, lesbianas y queers...¡a volar! An LGBTQ+ Anthology of Dominican Transnational Writers, is a bilingual compilation of poetry, essays, short stories, short plays and memoirs by out Dominican writers on the island and the diaspora. It is a powerful representation of some of the literary, social, political and cultural movements currently taking place in the Dominican community. The worlds, ideas, feelings and stories depicted in this book show how LGBTQ+ Dominicans both fit in and are alienated from the national dictum "Dios, Patria y Libertad", all while navigating typical human traits such as love, family, identity, home, safety, courage, sexuality, faith, language.
Pájaros, lesbianas y queers...¡a volar! An LGBTQ+ Anthology of Dominican Transnational Writers, es una compilación bilingüe de poesía, ensayos, cuentos, microteatro y memorias por escritores dominicanes en la isla y en la diáspora, auto-identificades como parte de la comunidad LGBTQ+. Este libro es una representación significativa de algunos de los movimientos literarios, sociales, políticos y culturales que actualmente transcurren en la comunidad dominicana. Los mundos, las ideas, los sentimientos y las historias encarnadas en esta antología muestran cómo les dominicanes LGBTQ+ se integran y a la vez se disgregan del lema nacional "Dios, Patria y Libertad", al lidiar con rasgos tan típicos y humanos como el amor, la familia, la identidad, el hogar, la seguridad, el valor, la fe y el lenguaje.
About the Author :
Yoseli Castillo Fuertes, born in the Dominican Republic in 1972, migrated to the United States at 16 years old. She holds a BA in Psychology and an MA in Spanish Literature. She is a bilingual-afro dominican - latina - lesbian - poet - activist-teacher-aunt-mom. A Cave Canem alumnus, her poems and short stories have appeared in various anthologies inNew York, Madrid, Argentina and Santo Domingo. Her online work can be found in publications by Dominican Writers Association, Hispanecdotes, Project Zu, Academia Canaria de la Lengua Revista Literaria, The Voices Project, amongst others. Her first poetry book, De eso sí se habla/Of That, I Speak (2012) is sold out and out of print. For more information you can contact her: cyoseli@yahoo.com / Yoseli Castillo / IG @yoseliescribe Alicia Anabel Santos Diaz is an Afrolatina Lesbian Storyteller, Performance Artist, Filmmaker, Producer, Playwright, Public Speaker, Activist and Writing Midwife, and Priestess initiated in La Regla de Ocha. Her stories celebrate and honor Black and Indigenous women throughout the diaspora. She was born in Brooklyn and is a proud Dominican Writer. Her memoir Finding your Force: A Journey to Love was published in 2011. Anabel was awarded the BRIO Award (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) for fiction in 2018. In 2008 she wrote and produced the documentary, Afrolatinos La historia que nunca nos contaron. She is currently working on a historical fiction memoir where she merges poetry and witchcraft, and is writing "I.D.G.A.F - I Don't Give a Fck: One Hundred Years of Rage '', a memoir that dissects three generations of rage. Alicia can be found teaching zoom writing workshops to elders in the Bronx. She attended New York University and in 2021 she rematriated to the Dominican Republic to honor the land of her parents. WEBSITE: lasantera.nyc / IG: @_lasantera
Review :
"Spanning genre, language, borders, and a multitude of interior worlds, this is an incomparable collection of Dominican letters. Powerful and bold, Pájaros, lesbianas y Queers... ¡a volar! is an expansive take that illuminates Dominican queerness from the mundane to the mythical." - Elizabeth Acevedo, author of Family Lore.
"In the context of our specific and shared luchas within and across international borders, Pájaros, lesbianas y Queers... ¡a volar! is both un ünguento that heals the soul and una herramienta that provides us with language, imagination, mirrors, and roadmaps to our collective liberation and joy." - Dr. Ana-Maurine Lara, author of Queer Freedom: Black Sovereignty
"Pájaros, lesbianas y Queers...¡a volar! " is a vibrant and urgent anthology of queer Dominican poetry, prose and plays. From love to heartbreak, to shedding shame, to learning to live, leave and find home, to exploring Blackness, these works will resonate with readers from all walks of life, from Santo Domingo to the Bronx and around the world." - Charles Rice-Gonzalez, author of Chulito
"This book is a journey into a realm that has often been denied and overlooked throughout Dominican-Diasporic history: Queerness. Pájaros, lesbianas y queers...¡a volar!... is part of growing movements of humanization and love." - Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon (Dr.G.), PhD, Bruja of Brooklyn.
"If Pájaros, lesbianas y Queers...¡a volar! were its own category at a Kiki ball, the category would be written realness." - María Teresa "Mariposa" Fernández, award-winning Afro Puerto Rican poet, educator, activist, and Bronx native.
"Aquí hay pura resistencia maricona, hay llanto y hay Victoria testimonial de la representación vibrante y caleidoscópica del TODES. Aquí se exigen nuevos dioses, patrias y libertades como declaración poderosa de que nosotres, las voces de la otredad, importamos y merecemos ser escuchados." - Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, autora de Afroqueeridades.
