I’m excited to finally announce the release of The Gorgon Verses: Poems for a Queer Mythology!

Challenged to live queer in this world, inspired by ancient myths and sacred stories, and fed by the deep nourishment of nature’s beauty, The Gorgon Verses is the product of a long personal journey of writing poetry and digging deeply into the dark recesses of the soul.

The idea for this collection came into my mind in 2018, with the writing of the poem Trans Formed, then written with the subtitle A New Mythology. Poetry has been an integral part of my process of coming to terms with my own queerness, and an equally powerful instrument in the exploration of my spirituality over the last decade. With the inspiration of that gorgon “poised in her self-knowledge,” not only did I begin to write poems consciously seeking out connections between those themes, but I began to review my poetry with the lens of discovering those pieces that were already delving into that landscape long before I had the concrete thought for such a collection. The poems that came together to create this book all center on retelling sacred stories – ancient or recent – as a potent way to contextualize my own queer experience – to create a “Queer Mythology” of myself.

In February of this year I felt a sudden urgency to put this book out into the world, and in two short weeks, the poems were selected, ordered, the amazing cover art created by Lydia Nuhfer, and I began the work of ordering proofs and working out all the small details. A week before I was scheduled to put this book up for sale and host a live poetry reading in my hometown, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus put a halt to my plans. Because of the world events unfolding, my personal experience of this pandemic and the subsequent developments on the national stage, and the sudden imperative to reimagine all of my priorities and life goals in the face of such turmoil, the gorgon’s voice remained silent for over 3 months.

Today, I am overjoyed to announce that her silence has come to an end. The Gorgon Verses: Poems for a Queer Mythology is now available to order on Lulu.com, and will soon be available through many other book distributors.

In addition, I will be posting videos on my Facebook page – Trey Moonwood – live readings of some of the poems in the collection. In the absence of fearless in-person communication, I feel this medium is the best way to reach out to you all and share this exciting moment.

Please check out the link below to order your own copy of The Gorgon Verses!