Jos Charles is a trans American poet, writer, translator, and editor. Her book ''feeld'' won the

National Poetry Series The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program. Every year since 1979, the National Poetry Series has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry. Manuscripts are solicited through an annual open competition, judged and c ...

and was a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not ment ...

. She is the founding editor of ''Them'', the first trans literary journal in the United States.

Early life and education

Charles grew up in a conservative

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

family, and wrote her first poem, about the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, when she was seven years old. She received a Masters in Fine Arts degree from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. and is a PhD candidate in English at the

University of California Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

Biography

Charles's debut poetry collection, ''Safe Space'', was published in 2016 by Ahsahta Press. Her poetry has been published by ''

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

'', ''

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

'', ''

Washington Square Review ''Washington Square Review'' (usually shortened to ''ON SQU'') is a nationally distributed literary magazine that publishes stories, poems, essays and reviews, many of which are later reprinted in annual anthologies. It is the graduate equiv ...

'', ''

Denver Quarterly The ''Denver Quarterly'' (known as ''The University of Denver Quarterly'' until 1970) is a literary magazine based at the University of Denver. It was founded in 1966 by novelist John Edward Williams. Publisher The magazine is published by the ...

'', ''

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

'', ''

Lambda Literary The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legaci ...

'', ''The Feminist Wire'', ''Action Yes'', ''Bloom'', and ''

The Capilano Review ''The Capilano Review'' (''TCR'') is a Canadian tri-annual literary magazine located and published in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh ...

''. In 2015 she received the Monique Wittig Writer's Scholarship. In 2016 Charles received a Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship through the

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthrop ...

and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry. Her second book, ''feeld'', uses an original vocabulary that combines

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

and

textspeak Short Message Service (SMS) language or textese is the abbreviated language and slang commonly used in the late 1990s and early 2000s with mobile phone text messaging, and occasionally through Internet-based communication such as email and ins ...

. Chosen for the National Poetry Series by the poet

Fady Joudah Fady Joudah (born 1971) is a Palestinian-American poet and physician. He is the 2007 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition for his collection of poems '' The Earth in the Attic''. Life Joudah was born in Austin, Texas Aus ...

, it has been praised for its groundbreaking twist on classic pastoral traditions. In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...

, an event widely considered a watershed moment in the modern

LGBTQ rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or politica ...

, ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay- and LGBTQ-oriented entertainment and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was ...

'' named her one of the ''Pride50'' "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

, acceptance and dignity for all

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

people".

Publications

*''Safe Space'' (Asahta, 2016) *''feeld'' (

Milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to huma ...

, 2018) *''a Year & other poems'' (US: Milkweed, 2022), (UK: Broken Sleep, 2024)

References

External links

*
recording of jos charles talking about Geoffrey Chaucer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Jos Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American poets American magazine editors American women poets American LGBTQ poets University of Arizona alumni American women editors Transgender women writers Transgender poets 21st-century American women writers American transgender women American transgender writers