This month, as part of our goal of celebrating LGBTQ+ writers of color, we’re highlighting Shade Literary Arts. Founded by author Luther Hughes (himself a small press author of Touched, which came out from Sibling Rivalry Press in 2018), Shade Literary Arts is a literary organization focused on the empowerment and expansion of queer writers of color. Shade Literary Arts has published five issues of The Shade Journal, which focuses on “work that challenges forms and upsets the canon, while understanding literature’s rigorous and traditional roots.” Their website also features an excellent list of poetry collections coming out in 2020 from queer writers of color.
Since March, Hughes has shifted the focus of the organization in order to offer direct financial support to queer writers of color who’ve been impacted by the pandemic.
Launched with an initial goal of supporting 100 queer writers of color, the Queer Writers Relief Fund has already given out $35,000 to 136 writers. Hughes has no intention of slowing down. “Shade’s current 2020 goals are continuing the Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund until the end of the year and create programs, including but not limited to virtual workshops, readings, and seminars. Shade will open again for submissions for the Shade Journal in early 2021,” Hughes told me.
Donors who gift $10 or more will receive a free .pdf copy of A History of Flamboyance by Justin Phillip Reed and Dream With a Glass Chamber by Aricka Foreman, both from YesYes Books.
Queer writers of color in need of support can complete a survey to apply for between $100 and $500 in support from the fund. Priority will be given to queer trans women of color and queer disabled writers of color.