Gay Poems for Red States

Willie Carver, award-winning teacher and truth-teller, has written a memoir of narrative poems that poignantly explore his experience as a gay man in Appalachia—through food, religion, heartache, and a bone-deep love for the hollers, the hills, and the people. These poems hold your gaze and your ear.

~Crystal Wilkinson, author of Perfect Black

Willie Carver is a humane and necessary voice from the hills of Kentucky. He writes with stunning insight, vivid imagery, and enormous courage. This is a powerful book that should be read by everyone.

~Chris Offutt, author of Country Dark

Prepare your heart and soul along with your humanity and intellect to feel and be seen by this book. Each line of this incredible text allows the reader to, like his love Josh says, 'find beauty just by expecting it.' Carver reminds us of the gentle yet fighting spirit in us all and why we must keep building a joyous and just world where every student and educator not only belongs but thrives. Oh, how I wish for a world where all students are lucky enough to have an educator like Mr. Carver.

~Juliana Urtubey, 2021 National Teacher of the Year and White House committee member of the Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics

In Gay Poems for Red States, Willie Carver extends grace in two directions: back to the child he was, and forward to the queer young people living in rural places today. Through poems that explore the relationships and dynamics that shaped his identity, Carver creates a mirror for queer youth—the kind of mirror he never had. The kind of mirror we all need in order to find our way into our truest expressions of self.

~Neema Avashia, author of Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place

Gay Poems for Red States will be a centerpiece at my equity-driven book shop. Willie's gorgeous personality shines brightly, and the methods he uses to communicate the impact of his intersecting identities are inspiring and insightful. His ingenious use of literary devices both provokes and comforts the reader. He somehow manages to be paradoxically vulnerable and whimsical at the same time, and I can't get enough of his writing. Beautiful. Authentic. Compelling. An incredible work of art.

~Kelly D. Holstine, Minnesota State Teacher of the Year and owner of WordHaven BookHouse

The raw emotion of Willie's words paints a vivid and realistic picture of the life many of us gay folks face each and every day as we strive to transform the minds of our neighbors, families, friends, and communities in the red states we call home. This is a must-read for our community and for any who consider themselves allies. To hear these stories is to know us, to grieve with us, and to boldly advocate for change so that those who come after us might have a life that's just a bit easier than ours.

~Jed Dearybury, coauthor of The Playful Life: The Power of Play in Our Everyday

One of the most quintessentially Appalachian books I have ever read. Gay Poems for Red States is destined to be a cornerstone of the pantheon of books describing what it's like to grow up queer in this country during this time in history.... For those having trouble being seen and those having trouble seeing, this book is a blueprint for their shared survival. The love embodied in Carver's voice will set off tambourines in your heart.

~Robert Gipe, author of Pop: An Illustrated Novel

Although the content of the collection is often grim, it is treated with beauty and humor. The poems collected center a poor, queer Southern youth who's struggling to survive; they seek moments of solace.

~Foreword Reviews

Authentic voices of human beings experiencing rural poverty are difficult to come by in literature. In Gay Poems for Red States, Willie Carver emerges as such a voice. As a collection, his poems build a world that is economically poor but relationally rich, that can hold darkness and also be beautiful, that is full of hunger and also deliciously bountiful. Gay youth growing up in rural America will recognize themselves here, but this collection is a quintessential American text, good and good for all of us.

~Tanya Baker, Director, National Programs, National Writing Project

Gay Poems for Red States possesses a defiant, resilient voice which resounds loudly above the cacophony of hate and backlash permeating discriminatory legislative decisions. The poems also celebrate a place otherwise associated with oppression, racism, and discrimination, uplifting the healing aspects of a misunderstood natural landscape historically and greedily stripped of its resources. Gay Poems for Red States is immediate and necessary, and it emerges at a critical point in education, society, and publishing.

~Southern Review of Books