Trace Peterson and Max Wolf Valerio: November 2, 2017

Elise Ficarra introduces Trace Peterson. Peterson reads "After Before and After" in manuscript, followed by "The Valleys are so Lush and Steep" from Troubling The Line, which she co-edited. She then reads "NO ONE COULD SEE THE VAST CROWD", as published in The Boston Review (2017), and the following poems, in manuscript: "Identification," "Everyone is a Little Trans," "Queer Poem," "Exclusively on Venus," and "The Other Members with my ID."

Elise Ficarra introduces Max Wolf Valerio. Valerio reads "The Criminal," "Prophecy," "The Attack of the Cartoon Penitentes," "Birth," "The Gates," "Envy," "The Invisibility of Parallel Forces," "Eclipse," "Judges of War," "Iron Lights," "The Tangible and Unknown Combined," "Fleur," and "Water in Dreams" from The Criminal.

Trace Peterson and Max Wolf Valerio discuss poetics. Max talks about his writing process, and the speaker in his poems. He asks Trace about her philosophy on writing poems about being trans, and the voice with which she writes them. Max discusses writing without gender, and they both comment on writing with power. They discuss the work of Gloria Anzaldua, followed by a conversation on their influences in writing, and how they developed their styles. They both discuss what it was like as poets coming out as transgender, and how transitioning changed their communities. They then take questions from the audience, discussing habits that inspire their writing and what constitutes trans poetry, attempting to define the trans aesthetic.