Happy Black History Month + A Note from Our Founder
Pre-Order Our Newest Chapbook "BODYPOLITIC" by Aerik Francis!
A Note From Our Founder:
Happy Black History Month.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the moment we are living in and what it means to be a publisher during a global rise in fascism and senseless violence, both domestically and abroad. As we continue to bear witness to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, Sudan, and the Congo, alongside the horrific domestic terror carried out by ICE, there is no denying that no matter where we turn, violence has seeped into every crack in our lives. It is relentless, immeasurable, and deeply wounding. I feel it every day in my body. A pain that cannot be fully named but that I know many of us are carrying collectively.
It is no surprise, then, that this violence has also permeated the publishing industry, an industry already shaped by whiteness, heteronormativity, and traditional expectations for writing. Publishers and agents are increasingly retreating from writers with marginalized identities, particularly LGBTQ+ writers, and especially trans/queer writers of color. This retreat may not surprise me, but it does demand something of us. It calls on publishers like ours—and others in alignment—to step forward rather than shrink back.
When I founded Abode Press back in 2023, it was in direct response to the wave of book bans that began in 2022 that continued to spread across the country. Watching my own school district ban books that young people deserve access to made clear the urgency of creating a new home for work that would otherwise be silenced. I wanted to build a publishing space that would not abandon vital voices in the face of political pressure.
I want to affirm something to our readers and community: we are not backing away. We remain deeply committed to publishing the voices we have always championed, and we are actively imagining new ways to uplift writers whose work aligns with our anti-racist, anti-colonial, and intersectional values.
With that commitment, I am proud to share that we will soon be announcing our first full-length call for fiction manuscripts, including short story collections and novels. This submission call will only be open to trans/queer writers of color. This call is an intentional act: to champion voices that deserve to be amplified and to state clearly that we are a publisher unafraid to support work that matters, that has literary merit, that has power.
More details about our editorial vision, the publication prize, and submission guidelines will be released on March 1st.
There is more I want to say, and I will, with time. For now, I ask that if you have the means, please consider donating to the organizations listed below, whose collective work continues to resist injustice and sustain our communities. In addition, we encourage you to research mutual aid funds for immigrants who have been wrongfully detained by ICE. We will also be donating portions of funds made from our workshops to support these organizations and the necessary work they are doing.
The Sameer Project (Donations to supply aid to displaced families in Gaza)
Sudan Solidarity Collective (Donations for Sudan solidarity fund)
Inside Books Project (Sends free books and educational materials to prisoners in Texas)
With care,
Diamond Braxton
Founder of Abode Press
Congratulations to Our Incredible 2026-2027 Chapbook Shortlist!
We received a total of 226 chapbook submissions from our recent reading period and were able to accept 4 stellar chapbooks. Congratulations to our chapbook winners! We will announce our winners in a special Substack post in the next two weeks, but we want to take this time to congratulate our authors who were shortlisted! While we couldn’t accept their work, we want to shout them out because we believe in them and the work they’ve created. We receive such strong work during our submission periods and wish we could accept everything. Congratulations to our Shortlisted Authors!
Pre-order BODYPOLITIC by Aerik Francis (releases March 1st!)
If radical means to the root, radical politics must attend to the body.
Written for the vast spectrum of bodies, Aerik Francis’s BODYPOLITIC offers poetry as a catalyst: for movement, for empowerment, and for liberation-minded education rooted in global awareness and local action. This collection of poems questions what it means to live fully inside one’s own body in a society that seeks to regulate, define, or erase bodies. These poems ask readers to reexamine their relationship with their bodies as an act of self-knowledge, resistance, and radical permission to express oneself. Beyond the individual self, BODYPOLITIC also explores how bodies exist within larger bodies of power. Embedded in the history of these political processes are people, Francis’s people, the vast history of peoples fighting against oppressive powers and systems. BODYPOLITIC opens space for a candid conversation with ourselves about what we want, who we are becoming, and who we really want to be.
Aerik Francis is a Queer Black Latinx poet born and based on the lands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples currently known as Denver, Colorado, USA. Aerik is currently the poet laureate of Adams County, Colorado. Aerik wants us to come together and gum up the gears of the machinery of the empire toward all of our collective liberation. Their poetry chapbook MISEDUCATION (New Delta Review, 2023) can be purchased online or in person, and their newest poetry chapbook BODYPOLITIC out now with Abode Press in 2026. Find more of their work on their website phaentompoet.com or via social media @phaentompoet.
All books will be shipped by early March! Pre-order your copy here: BODYPOLITIC by Aerik Francis | Abode Press
Sign up for Our February Queer Writing Workshop “FEAR/DESIRE” By Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
In FEAR/DESIRE, we'll write scary AND sexy stories to tell in the dark. This generative workshop is all about considering the (queer) erotic potential of horror. Let's get weird, spooky, and hot. Through short readings, discussions, and generative prompts meant to pry open the intersecting themes of FEAR and DESIRE, we'll create new work that challenges, subverts, and interrogates dominant narratives about bodies, sex, the erotic, identity, and relationships. We'll talk about the craft of writing sex as well as of writing horror, and we'll implement these things in real-time with original generative prompts.
Workshop takes place Feb 22nd at 11am. Sign up here: Fear/Desire: Writing Queer Erotic Horror That Subverts | Abode Press
Happy Black History Month! Support Our Authors!
Coral in the Diaspora by Jerrice J. Baptiste
Coral in The Diaspora by Jerrice J. Baptiste is a collection that captures the lives of the Haitian people as they embrace the goodness in their community. It celebrates the wisdom of the elders as leaders who are cherished for their commitment to help the island thrive. Each member of the island's community is welcomed and valued for their special gifts and the joy they each create by being unique souls. Coral in The Diaspora creates a visceral experience for its readers through its colorful imagery and beautiful language by giving voice to the island of Haiti. Buy a copy here!
My Sisters Look Like God: A Womanist Manifesto of Poetry by Desiree McCray
My Sisters Look Like God: A Womanist Manifesto of Poetry embodies a thought-provoking exploration of faith, heritage, self-acceptance, and identity. This collection celebrates the richness of cultural heritage and boldly embraces themes often overlooked like embracing being unapologetically fat and the intricate legacy of the author's grandmother's faith. The narrative weaves ancestral connections that birth a distinctive perspective on the interconnectedness of the past, present, and future. In My Sisters Look Like God, each title serves to inspire and empower through celebrating cultural heritage. The book beautifully captures the essence of being a black woman navigating the intersectional complexities of identity and faith. This collection of poetry serves an invitation to embrace diversity, challenge preconceptions, and find strength in the embracing one’s unique authenticity. My Sisters Look Like God is not just a book; it's a testimony to the vibrant, vivid vocalizing of rich human experience. Find it here!
Apply for our 2026 Virtual Retreat! Apps close March 7th!
Starting June 7th, 2026, Abode Press is returning with our virtual retreat experience! With the success of our first retreat, we are coming back bigger and better than ever! We will also have anti-racist workshops available in poetry, fiction, novel, and nonfiction, and attendees will also be able to attend 2-3 craft talks and lectures throughout the week (x2 as much than our first retreat). Workshops will be led by renowned writers, including Ariana Brown (Poetry), Saúl Hernández (Poetry), Benedict Nguyễn (Novel), Annell López (Short Fiction), and Camille U. Adams (Nonfiction).
Most retreat experiences are costly, tending to be upwards to $2000. At Abode, we are working tirelessly to increase accessibility for writers to attend much needed spaces to work on their craft and build connections without compromising their livelihood. This is why the retreat will have an asking price of $325 (sliding scale) with partial scholarships available to writers in need, but because of this low price, applicants will be selected based off the strength of their application and alignment with our press.
It’s free to apply! Apply here: Abode Press Submission Manager
Welcome our Grants and Development Manager, Stuti Sharma!
Stuti Sharma is a poet, novelist, music journalist, stand up comic, and line cook born in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Chicago and the south suburbs. They were an inaugural Tin House Workshop 2023-2024 Reading Fellow. They have work in Hanif Abdurraqib's 68to05.com, Chicago Reader, Sixty Inches from Center, Belt Magazine, Hooligan Magazine, Autostraddle, Commonplace Podcast, and Lupita Nyong'o's podcast with Snap Judgement. She is a collective member at Chicago-based queer and trans printmaking org, Marimacha Monarca Press, which was recipient of the 3Arts and Andy Warhol Fund. She has worked with funding artists through the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events as well as curating the Poetry Foundation's poetry corner in the Chicago Reader. She currently works at the Chicago Public Library and owns an oyster-shucking business called Oysterwallah. She is very excited to be part of the Abode Press team. Stuit is currently going back to school at the University of Illinois-Chicago to finish their bachelor's degree and manuscript. She also produces a bimonthly stand up comedy show in Chicago called Blue Collar Comedy, where she only books comedians from the working class. You can also find her writing at her substack, Kitchen Confit-dential, where she writes about life as a line cook and shares recipes.
Abode Staff News!
We want to take a moment to acknowledge accomplishments in the Abode Press family.
Hybrid Reader, T.A. Jones, released his first poetry collection, Obsidian Sun. Congratulations, T.A.!
Hybrid Reader, Crystal Odelle’s story was published in Cobra Milk. Congrats, Crystal!
Congratulations to these Abode staff members!! Learn more about them on our Masthead page.
Thank you, as always, for your support! We love you!