New & Forthcoming Releases! 📚

I've been stretching my creativity in new ways from playwright to Detroit techno songwriter! 

This year readers can expect several new projects: 

Poetry in a Sourav Sarkar anthology! 

A new short story next month! 

Photography in The Great Lakes Review later this summer! 

A new non-fiction essay in IN THE ALIEN BUDDHA'S DREAMS anthology, out in Sept! 

ICYMI, POEMS (with Sourav Sarkar) is now available!  

2 New Anthologies!

 The sequel anthology Great American Poets 2 is now available - Includes my poem City of Refuge! Also the new A Glimpse of Nature Anthology includes my poem Michigan Volcano!  

Whispers of the Seasons – A Contemporary Haiku Anthology

 Whispers of the Seasons – A Contemporary Haiku Anthology (Fresh Words) is now available in paperback and ebook formats! Includes my seventeen syllables - I'm in my Haiku Era! 

Good Cop/Bad Cop

 

The anthology from FlowerSong Press, GOOD COP/BAD COP is now available (includes poetry by yours truly)! Thank you FlowerSong Press for giving me a voice in this space for justice! 

"GOOD COP/BAD COP" ANTHOLOGY AUTHORS: 

TEZOZOMOC * JERRY ROBLEDO * CHUCK TAYLOR * MILTON JORDAN * MICHAEL ROTHENBERG * LINDA M. CRATE * EMILY SHEARER * ERNIE BRILL * MARK ANDREW HEATHCOTE * GERARD SARNAT * DAVID SALNER * JACK E LORTS * STALINA EMMANUELLE VILLAREAL * BRANDON NISBET * JOHN C KRIEG * BOB McNEIL * JEFF CANNON * RYAN HAVELY * VANESSA CARAVEO * BRANDON JACKSON * CHRISTIAN GARDUNO * GABRIEL GONZÁLEZ NÚÑEZ * DAVE RENDLE * CRYSTAL GARCIA * KAREN CLINE-TARDIFF * NDABA SIBANDA * CONNOR ORRICO * EL DAVID * DANIEL GARCÍA ORDAZ * NANCY SHIFFRIN * MARK ESPERANZA * M. GERLEMAN * MEGHA SOOD * MARK LIPMAN * JONATHAN FLETCHER * MARTINA GALLEGOS * HABIB ABODUNRIN ZAKARI * MICHAEL BRAUTIGAN * THOMAS FUCALORO * BONNIE PRICE * EMENIKE CHRISTIAN CHIJIOKE * JON C. MANNONE * JASON D. SÖDERBLOM * AMERICA GARCIA * DAVID ROMERO * JAMES SCHWARTZ * CATHARINE BATSIOS * LAURIE KUNTZ * JAMES CROAL JACKSON * PEGGY LANDSMAN * NICK MAYNARD * RONALD K. CRAIG * JEFF KNORR * MILLICENT BORGES ACCARDI * ALLAN LAKE * JOEL H. VEGA * DAWN CORRIGAN * TAOFEEK AYEYEMI *ANDREA BLANCAS BELTRAN * GIANA HESTERBERG * JONATHAN ROWE * EMMANUEL IKUOVE * JEANIE SANDERS * ALAN PERRY * CHINEDU VINCENT OKORO * IMOGEN ARATE * DaRELL PITTMAN * D.L. LANG * DAVID MILLS * TRICIA KNOLL * ZACK RITTER * ROD CARLOS RODRIGUEZ * JO REYES-BOITEL * TAMMY M. GOMEZ * SONIA BEAUCHAMP * LUCINDA MARSHALL *IRIS DE ANDA * RÁUL SÁNCHEZ * HECTOR SON OF HECTOR * YOLANDA SEALEY-RUIZ * ROBIN CARSTENSEN * JUAN M. PÉREZ *  KENDRA NUTTALL * JIM LaVILLA HAVELIN * TOM MURPHY * DIMITRI REYES * CHRIS BILLINGS * LORRAINE GARNETT * CHIDIEBUBE ONYE OKOHIA * KATHLEEN MURPHEY * LISA BRAXTON * MIKE EKUNNO * DR. NANDINI BHATTACHARYA *  IWUAGWU IKECHUKWU * SARA WHITESTONE * KASAK JAIN * ROGER COLLINS * BEN FINE * MARK VASQUEZ * ERIKA E. GARZA 

"Good Cop/Bad Cop" Anthology

 

Publication date for Good Cop/Bad Cop: an anthology will be 05/25/2021

One year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.https://t.co/axcp4My7Ei

— FlowerSong Press (@FlowerSongPress) May 24, 2021

 

The GOOD COP/BAD COP anthology is now available, click here & here. 

"Sweeter Voices Still: An LGBTQ Anthology from Middle America" Reviews

 Happy publication day to SWEETER VOICES STILL! I am so happy for all the buzz and great reviews it has been receiving, updates to come: 

THE BUCKEYE FLAME 

FOURTEEN EAST MAGAZINE

LITHUB (EXCERPT)

LEFT BANK BOOKS DISCUSSION (FB LIVE) 

LITTLE VILLAGE

NPR

I am also happy to share space with another gay Amish writer, a first for me! Don't miss Letter to the Prodigal Son by Anonymous! 

Writers from "Sweeter Voices Still" LGBTQ Anthology on Left Bank's Facebook Live - https://t.co/EvFLJpMZqB pic.twitter.com/12pYiQvzDl

— Left Bank Books (@LeftBankBooks) January 19, 2021

A Year of Aloha 🌺

I'll be on a social media / blogging hiatus, beginning in December to focus on my next project so here is a look back at a few highlights from the Big Island, 2019 - A Year of Aloha:

PUNATIC (WRITING KNIGHTS PRESS)

POETRY + COLOR PHOTOS

EXCERPT:

THE MERRIE MONARCH PARADE

FROM PAHOA WITH LAVA 4 

DOCUMENTARY FILM (NA LEO TV)

 LOVEJETS - NOMINATED FOR A LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD! 

THE NEW YORK TIMES: #STONEWALL50

#PROTECTMAUNAKEA

PRINCESS FOR POTUS!

From Pahoa with La❤a + Lovejets 🌋

I am celebrating Walt Whitman and my 2 year anniversary in Puna! You can catch me in the Nā Leo TV documentary film FROM PAHOA WITH LA❤A 4🌋 premiering in May on Nā Leo TV (check local listings) + the @NaLeoTV app + Facebook & YouTube platforms!

LOVEJETS: QUEER MALE POETS ON 200 YEARS OF WALT WHITMAN 

(Squares & Rebels Press)

Where the heck have you been, Walt Whitman?

Walt Whitman, author of Leaves of Grass, was born in 1819. The Stonewall riots happened 150 years later. On the bicentennial of Whitman’s birth and the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, over 80 poets pay homage to not only Walt Whitman, but also to queer poets and queer poetry and the vast and various events, revolutions public and private, that have shaken our world since 1819: who we are, where we are, where we have been, and where we might be going in the 21st century.

“This wide and impressive range of poetry echoing the spirit of Walt Whitman and his literary forebears demonstrates the essential embrace of community that we’ve always needed to feel whole with ourselves and among others, especially now during these tumultuous times. Celebrating what had to be largely hidden from view during Whitman’s day, the living queer male poets who grace the pages trumpet a glorious and unforgettable spectacle of passion and compassion.” —Richard Blanco, Presidential Inaugural Poet

Featured poets include Shane Allison, Jeffrey Angles (translator), M. J. Arcangelini, Geer Austin, Stuart Barnes, David J. Bauman, Jeffery Beam, Gary Boelhower, Charlie Bondhus, Bryan Borland, Jericho Brown, A. J. Chilson, Philip F. Clark, Jeffery Conway, Alfred Corn, David Cummer, Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, Patrick Donnelly, Arthur Durkee, Jim Elledge, Jack Fritscher, Keith Garebian, Alex Gildzen, Robert L. Giron, David Groff, Nicholas Alexander Hayes, Trebor Healey, Greg Hewett, Scott Hightower, Walter Holland, Andrew Howdle, Michael Hyde, George K. Ilsley, Curran Jeffery, Jee Leong Koh, Michael Lassell, Travis Chi Wing Lau, Daniel W.K. Lee, Timothy Liu, Chip Livingston, Raymond Luczak, Jeff Mann, Jaime Manrique, Herbert Woodward Martin, Marcos L. Martínez, Dermot Meagher, Jory Mickelson, Stephen S. Mills, Michael Kiesow Moore, SP Mulroy, Chael Needle, Eric Thomas Norris, Margaret Sayers Peden (translator), James Penha, Seth Pennington, Felice Picano, Martin Pousson, Christopher Records, William Reichard, Dennis Rhodes, Rocco Russo, Roberto F. Santiago, Gerard Sarnat, James Schwartz, P. C. Searce, Davis G. See, Gregg Shapiro, Ben Shields, Allen Smith, Michael D. Snediker, Frederick Speers, Malcolm Stuhlmiller, Mutsuo Takahashi, Atsusuke Tanaka, Guy Terrell, Ulysses Tetu, John Whittier Treat, David Trinidad, Mark Ward, Edmund White, Walt Whitman (of course!), Scott Wiggerman, Jim Wise, Cyril Wong, and Ian Young.

Our Happy Hours

 

Waaaaaaay back in 2007 I had my early poetry published via PFLAG's Michiana's Rainbow Gazzette which also carried THE AMAZON TRAIL column by LEE LYNCH. Little did I know we would be in a book one day! Thank you Lee, and everyone who contributed to this beautiful book!  Winner of a GOLDIE AWARD! 

Available via Amazon and Bella Books!  

Dispatch from Hawaii #1

Aloha from Kapoho, Hawaii!

I've been living at a permaculture community since late April of this year so haven’t spent much time blogging! Mahalo to Kukuau Studio and GaiaYoga Gardens for allowing me to grace your stages- it was an honor to be able to share my poetry with you this year!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by James Schwartz (@queeraspoetry) on Aug 5, 2017 at 6:09am PDT

I'm so happy to see my essay The Zoo Bar published in the new anthology Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices From the Gay Bars! I can't believe I have an essay in the same book as the amazing Lee Lynch - another honor. I'm truly humbled. 

In poetry news I'm included in the new Not My President: An Anthology of Dissent and have a poem in the fall issue of RFD Magazine! You can read the issue online here! 

Lastly, you can catch my Creative Thought "From Amish to Aloha" on YouTube and the August issue of Science of Mind Magazine! 

"Hands" Pushcart Prize Nominee!

I am honored my poem "Hands" was a Pushcart Prize nominee, reprinted in Wayward Sword: CHALLENGING SUBMISSIONS anthology (Writing Knights Press)!