Taiwana Shambley

I’ll be serving c**t at three events in the next week. Definitely, in ways that feel good to you, prioritize fighting and building alternatives to this dystopia that loves to bomb, brutalize, and fund the genocide of brown people. But if you want to and it feels aligned, I’d love to see you at any of these events. 🤎

Thurs, 6/26: Green Roof Poetry. Alongside Sati of I co-curated a set of radical trans writers & artists—Amalia Tenuta, Chavah Gabrielle, b ferguson, and myself—who will be performing work that, in their own way, takes risks and embodies our favorite sign-off phrase: stay dangerous. DJ BYZARRA’s on the ones and twos!

Sun, 6/29: MFA Graduation Ceremony. After three and a half years of working on my craft, I am officially graduating from Antioch University Los Angeles with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Fiction)! The ceremony’s at 10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00pm CST and live streamed at the link in slide 3. I’m excited and exhausted and have gotten so good at violent action scenes and revenge narratives and writing marginalized protagonists from my hood and holding a tight release of information that makes you read over and over how my characters be going THROUGH it and STILL leave the fight laughing with the girls, showing all they teeth. Wanna celebrate me? 💛

Thank you, dearly, for being a sanctuary for me after transferring from my last (punitive and anti-trans environment of a) program, pairing me with professors who helped me learn how to trust myself, tune out harmful voices, and get better at my thing.

Tues, 7/1: Better Things. I’ll be sharing new work at alongside a lineup of very dope writers. Bring a homie! Hop on the open mic! I’ll be listening. 💛

You can find links and more info about all these events at my website, the Walker’s website, and ReEntry Lab’s page.

Trans youth: we need your stories now more than ever!

I’m excited to promote the launch of Chrysalis, a new lit magazine by trans youth, for trans youth (created with a little help from trans adults). I recently joined the team of as a fiction editor. 😊

Trans youth (18 or younger) are invited to submit visual art, poetry, non-fiction, and fiction related to our first issue’s theme: Strength. Grown-ups can support the magazine by donating, spreading the word, and joining our mailing list at chrysalismagazine.org so that we can let you know as soon as you can pre-order a copy.

Hii I’m Taiwana Shambley, a COMPAS teaching artist as of 2025.

COMPAS is one of the largest, most respected arts organizations in the state and being a member of their roster alongside artists I’ve learned from and admired for years means a lot to me.

When you book with me through COMPAS, you gain access to my COMPAS-exclusive classes such as Writing Political Anger and Violence, Writing Your Hood, and Q***r and Trans Creative Writers. I invite you to share, save, or go ahead and book me at my website under “Teaching.”

Much love and thank you for your time!

Taiwana

Rest in Power, RaLasia Wright. 🤎 You don’t have to believe in violence as a freedom strategy, but please do join me in mourning and acknowledging the killing of this Black trans woman.

Thank you for having me this week it was a pleasure connecting with new people! 🤎

I CAN BE FREE YESTERDAY is a young adult speculative fiction novel about a disabled girl from my hometown of North End St. Paul who uses violence to protect herself from her classmates, and hears the voices of late abolitionists George Jackson and Jonathan Jackson, who continually advise her to crashout against her mother’s wishes, the first Black and first woman governor of Minnesota. It’s my debut novel and forthcoming with updates at taiwanashambley.com. 🥳

Photo Credits 📸: .bethanymae