The Sun Isn’t Out Long Enough
Anamot Press has published The Sun Isn’t Out Long Enough, an anthology about queer experiences across borders and other stories told with no shame.
Through poetry and prose, 20 writers explore themes of belonging and loss in relation to migration, language and inhabiting the spaces in between identities, queer historical figures, liminal love and diasporic desires.
The anthology is edited by Tatevik Sargsyan, with a foreword by Mary Jean Chan and an afterword by Kazim Ali.
“Through publishing queer writers across borders in the same anthology, Anamot Press has positioned itself as a convenor, and continues to carve out a space for cross-border dialogue,” said editor Tatevik Sargsyan.
Award winning poet and editor Mary Jean Chan, wrote in her foreword: “This anthology represents a growing awareness among writers, editors and publishers that power asymmetries persist within queer spaces, and that a multitude of marginalised voices remain unheard within queer Anglophone writing, especially that which is published in the Global North.”
Anamot Press, a small independent publisher based in London, publishes poetry and prose on intersecting experiences of gender, sexuality, race, migration, class, belonging and loss – with no shame. The press was launched two weeks before the first national lockdown in 2020, a setback the founder hadn’t accounted for. Adapting quickly to the circumstances, they launched the Poetry Streaming Project on Instagram, setting a precedent for other poets and publishers to self-produce online readings and poetry events. Anamot Press curated an impressive roster of international writers, including award-winning poets such as Raymond Antrobus, Bhanu Kapil, Emily Berry, Inua Ellams, Victoria Chang, John McCullough, Jane Yeh, Golnoosh Nour, Khadijah Queen, and Mary Jean Chan, garnering thousands of views.
“As a queer-owned and Armenian-owned publisher, Anamot Press is groundbreaking in and of itself,” said J.P. Der Boghossian, founder of the Queer Armenian Library and IALA Board member. “Anamot’s success is proof of a new era of Armenian-led literature that is diverse, inclusive, and creating new literary relationships across diasporas. It is electrifying.”
The Sun Isn’t Out Long Enough includes contributions from Taylor Johnson, Jay G Ying, Xandria Phillips, Noor Hindi, Andriniki Mattis, Jody Chan, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Peter Scalpello, Ximena Keogh Serrano, Courtney Conrad, Leah Cowan, Joshua Escobar, Shayna Gee, Sarah Giragosian, Golnoosh Nour, John McCullough, Alton Melvar M Dapanas, J.P. Der Boghossian, Jee Leong Koh, Sanjana Bijlani.
Purchase the anthology through the following links:
US / Canada stockists:
Los Angeles, CA: Abril Books
New York City, NY: Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
New York City, NY: Bluestockings Bookstore
Austin, TX: BookWoman
Toronto, ON: Glad Day Bookshop
Edmonton, AB: Glass Bookshop
Lawrence, KS: Raven Book Store
Cambridge, MA: Grolier Poetry Book Shop