'a gorgeous, resplendent, glittery, wonderful anthology'
Hustling Verse: An Anthology of Sex Workers' Poetry: In this trailblazing anthology, more than fifty self-identified sex workers from all walks of the industry (survival and trade, past and present) explore their lived experience through the expressive nuance and beauty of poetry. In a variety of forms ranging from lyrics to list poems to found poetry to hybrid works, these authors express themselves with the complexity, agency, and honesty that sex workers are rarely afforded. Contributors from Canada, the US, Europe, and Asia include Gregory Scofield, Tracy Quan, Summer Wright, and Akira the Hustler. As an antidote to the invasive and often biased media depictions of sex workers, Hustling Verse is a fiercely groundbreaking exploration of intimacy, transactional sex, identity, healing, and resilience.
“When I was thinking about How Poetry Saved My Life entering the “big literary world” I more so viewed it as sub genre or an underdog book because there are still comparatively so few books about sex work, especially from authors who once worked street, like I have. Disclosing to working street-level sex work still feels risky to me. Apart from Runaway by Evelyn Lau (published in 1989) I have yet to read a first person memoir about street work. More of these stories must be out there—perhaps I just haven’t found them yet.” ― Amber Dawn
"a sex worker all at once invisible and iconic"
Sex work is one of the oldest and dangerous professions in the world. It has and possibly will be for awhile something that people often look down at or turn a blind eye to. There's the stigmatization of course but this world in general is not kind to people who use their bodies to achieve higher means. This book was perfection. It was raw, explicit, and unapologetic. It showcased the violence attributed to sex work and highlighted the marginalized. LGBT, people of color, everything in between. The poetry was stark and real and I don't want to choose favorites because so many were amazing but one that stood out to me especially was You especially, by Pluma Sumaq. This is a collection of pain, desire, resilience, and love and I am so happy that it was published and I have the honor of reviewing it. Thanks very much to Edelweiss and the publisher for this DRC. All opinions are my own.
Writer:
Amber Dawn is a writer, filmmaker and performance artist based in Vancouver. She is the author of the novel Sub Rosa (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010), editor of the Lambda Award-nominated Fist of the Spider Woman (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2008) and co-editor of With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005). Her award-winning, genderfuck docu-porn, "Girl on Girl," has been screened in eight countries and added to the gender studies curriculum at Concordia University. She has toured three times with the infamous Sex Workers' Art Show in the US. She was voted Xtra! West's Hero of the Year in 2008. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Currently, she is the director of programming for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival.
Justin Ducharme was born and raised in the small Metis community of St. Ambroise, Manitoba. He is a graduate of Vancouver Film School and the writer/director of three short films, most recently the 2018 drama Positions, which tells the story of a queer, Indigenous, male sex worker in Vancouver. Justin has been a Metis dancer since the age of ten and is passionate about dance, radicalizing Indigenous Canadian Cinema, and writing poetry about the people who broke his heart and the ones who paid to do so.