Apiary Magazine Review: Trans Literary Salon

Written by Steve Burns, Apiary Magazine
June 21, 2014

Last week The Leeway Foundation hosted its Second Trans Literary Salon at the Pennsylvania Convention Center which brought Annie Mok, KOKUMO, J Mase III, Imogen Binnie, and DarkMatter together to perform — comedically, rhythmically, and quite explosively. APIARY Magazine cosponsored and attended the salon. We loved every minute of it. Steve Burns

Between Annie Mok’s illustrations, KOKUMO’s expansively smooth vocals, J Mase’s jabbing lyricism, Imogen Binnie’s sharp, comedic prose, and DarkMatter’s doubly thunderous rumble, it’s incredibly hard to pinpoint one particular standout moment during the Second Trans Literary Salon. The Leeway Foundation knows how to stack a lineup. Of course, J Mase’s emcee skills were top notch too.

Annie Mok, who was recently interviewed by APIARY staffer Mai Schwartz, is a cartoonist, yes, but she’s also a superb performer. Her characters popped from their panels and enchanted her; especially Candy Darling of Screentests. Mok, mid-narrative, dramatically tweaks, whips, her voice to embody Darling, “If I can’t make it with men, I’ll make it with women. You think I care? You think I care what’s right or wrong. I’m young. I wanna live.” Mok conveys the vibrant, yet tragic duality of Darling effortlessly. Speaking beside her illustrations, Mok’s comics almost felt cinematic. Keep an eye out for an anthology of Mok’s work titled, tentatively, Body Talk.  

Following Annie Mok, KOKUMO, representing KOKUMOMEDIA, a multimedia production company that advocates on the behalf of TGI (Trans*, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex) people of color, dominated the stage. KOKUMO began by singing, “take me where the wild flowers grow, take me where the wild flowers grow”; her honeyed vocals charged the audience; we were thirsty, and she watered us. After her opening, laughing, KOKUMO proclaimed, “I am a musician, loud, [and] I will never shut the fuck up!” Summoning the energy of Octavia Butler, Duanna Johnson, and others onstage, KOKUMO became a vessel for black cis and trans* women alike. Amplified by the sound of her trembling rain instrument, KOKUMO definitely struck a chord.

J Mase III is a self-proclaimed “Rowdy-as-Hell” poet. His poems are brisk, decisive, and smart; the first of them explored the intersection of religion and sexuality. In many ways he disarms the Bible by turning its pages in on itself: “You claim your words are from God, but who’s book has been pledged to King James?” Then, “Know what legacies you keep; you have been lying about my people for too long.” In one swift move, J Mase reveals how the Bible’s been appropriated to discriminate against the trans* community and beyond. J Mase’s other poems demonstrated the challenges of finding genuine, romantic love in the face of constructing one’s identity, as well as what it means to be ‘supported’ and disparaged simultaneously. Each of J Mase’s pieces excavate truths, crises, and charms — when you least expect it.

Nevada, Imogen Binnie’s first novel, is “a story about consensual mentorship” (a description that made everyone in the crowd laugh). Maria is a young trans* woman who, after her relationship ends, leaves New York City to travel across the country. Eventually, Maria finds James working at Walmart — and she knows he’s trans* too. Binnie’s prose is energetic, slightly (humorously) paranoid, and wholly alive. In the section Binnie read, Maria is trying to convince James, who’s unsure of himself, to tag along with her: “The world has moved on from the narrative that being trans is something to be avoided at all costs…there’s a much better understanding of what it means to be trans now — you just, are trans.” Binnie’s reading is so matter-of-fact and colloquial, it’s easy to love Maria immediately. She continues, “”If you are trans, you are trans. If you are obsessed with learning you might be trans, you are probably trans.” Binnie’s prose has an honest velocity; her reading was equally impressive. (Note: I need to get this book!)

Last to perform was DarkMatter, Alok Vaid-Menon and Janani Balasubramanian. Together, this “trans/national queer South Asian activist hive-mind” channeled their collective poetic power to deconstruct post-colonialism, heteropatriarchy, and transmisogyny. These are big themes, but this pair pummels ‘em with stern grace and scathing wit. Alok lead the performance: “The first time he called me gay, I went home and Googled it and convinced myself that I saw myself reflected in images on a screen: a white body, a big city, and happiness, or two truths and a lie. We do not yet have a word in the english language vulnerable enough to hold the loneliness of being thirteen years old and inheriting a body that has already been choked into silence, but we try our best don’t we?” It’s hard to convey, here, Anok’s devastating performance; I’ll let Janani’s lines do the work. Janani talked about transitioning in a white world: “Mom, you are right: this is a painful process, it is violent, it is scarring. But I am trying to believe in something greater; that there are ways of being a man that do not involve being a white man.” DarkMatter was followed by roars of immense applause; I’m surprised the mic withstood their performance. Pure rage.

APIARY can’t wait for the next Trans Literary Salon! Thank you, The Leeway Foundation, for inviting us to sponsor this fantastic gathering of super-talented artists! Be sure to keep up to date with all of The Leeway Foundations ongoings online. Oh, and be sure to support these wonderful artists!