By Robert Fleming
LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, + (two-spirit, non-binary, pansexual, demisexual, aromantic, genderfluid, agender)
Curious to learn what a LGBTQIA+ publishers offer readers, as a Contributing Editor at Old Scratch Press and a LGBTQIA+ author myself, I interviewed Sarah Herrin Co- Founder and Editor of Beyond the Veil Press.
BVP is an indie press based in San Diego, California and Denver, Colorado, United States.
Beyond The Veil Press – Poetry & Art For Mental Health Awareness.
Sarah Herrin, (they/them) BVP, co-founder and editor in chief
Robert: What opportunities do you have for readers?
Sarah: We publish work centered on themes of mental health awareness. As a reader, one could find voices similar to their own and learn of new experiences they may also relate with. Sharing work on such vulnerable topics as violence against queer people or surviving sexual assault builds empathy and community.
Robert: What genres have you published?
Sarah: We publish print anthologies of poetry and visual art, as well as eBooks.
Robert: For pride reading what do you recommend in your catalogue and why?
Sarah: For Pride, we’ve published two anthologies so far: We Apologize For The Inconvenience in response to the Club Q shooting in November 2022
and Relics of Unbearable Softness with the theme of Queer Joy
Robert: outside of your catalogue, what do you recommend and why?
Sarah: We suggest work by Ouch! Magazine, a queer-focused zine based in California
ouch! collective (ouchcollective.com)
and Querencia Press based in Chicago who donates a lot of their proceeds to nonprofits.
Robert: What are your published authors/books and what do they offer the reader?
Sarah: Neurotica for the Modern Doomscroller by Eddie Brophy offers a relatable look at doomscroll culture and examines the collective trauma that Millennials have grown up with.
Heretic: A Story of Spiritual Liberation in Poems by Kristy Webster tells the struggles of one queer woman’s fight to free herself and her children from the religious cult she was born into.
Robert: What are your upcoming authors/books and what do they offer the reader?
Sarah: Taking Back The Body by Talicha J. about recovering from and living with the trauma of sexual assault – May ’24
Acid Rain Epithalamium by Becca Downs about coping with sudden divorce after only 3 months of marriage and redefining the relationship structures society places on us – July ’24.
Interview Responses End
**
yours truly, asked, but unanswered:
LGBTQIA+ includes new categories: queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, non-binary, pansexual, demisexual, aromantic, genderfluid, agender
Do you have any offerings whom the protagonist/voice are the last added?
- If yes, what do they offer the reader in themes and forms? (give author name, work name, purchase link)
with no responses, what is the response to an Amazon search:
book category: queer/questioning
closest category found: LGBTQ+ Demographic Studies
A Queer World: The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
book category: intersex
closest category found: Genetics (Books)
A Comprehensive Guide to Intersex by Jay Kyle Petersen
book category: asexual, pansexual, demisexual
closest category found: Legal Theory & Systems
Sexual Category Type by Olivia Emma (Author)
Sexual Category Type: Emma, Olivia: 9798891817999: Amazon.com: Books
book category: non-binary
closest category found: none
The Category is Me: A non-binary journal by Jeremy Brown (Author)
Amazon.com: The Category is Me: A non-binary journal: 9798747372955: Brown, Jeremy: Books
book category: genderfluid
closest category found: LGBTQ+ Demographic Studies
How to Understand Your Gender by Alex Iantaffi (Author)
Amazon.com: How to Understand Your Gender: 9781785927461: Iantaffi, Alex: Books
book category: two-spirit, aromantic, agender
closest category found: none
books: none
for the no-response to “two-spirit, aromantic, agender”, retry search for pride 2025, until then attend the June, 2024 pride art show at Camp Rehoboth, Rehoboth Delaware CAMP Rehoboth |
to include one of yours truly’s visual poems:
if you like my visual poetry, buy my visual poetry book White Noir
white noir: Fleming, Robert: 9781957224183: Amazon.com: Books
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