{"id":1215,"date":"2024-04-03T18:22:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T18:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/translash.org\/2024\/04\/03\/translash-guide-to-national-poetry-month\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T18:11:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T18:11:20","slug":"translash-guide-to-national-poetry-month","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/translash.org\/resources\/translash-guide-to-national-poetry-month\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to National Poetry Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Daniela \u201cDani\u201d Capistrano and Zarina Crockett<\/em> for TransLash Media<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Poetry Month is the perfect time to explore our trans-affirming guide to transgender literary pioneers and innovators! Bookmark this page; Team TransLash will make updates to this resource annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is National Poetry Month?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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National Poetry Month 2024 poster featuring artwork by award-winning children\u2019s author and illustrator Jack Wong, and lines from \u201cblessing the boats<\/a>\u201d by poet Lucille Clifton<\/a>. Click the image to expand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

National Poetry Month is observed every April in the United States and was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets<\/a> in 1996. It stands as the largest literary celebration<\/a> in the world, with the aim of highlighting the legacy and achievements of poets, encouraging the reading and writing of poetry, and fostering the placement of poetry at the center of our cultural life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transgender Poets: Trancestors <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trans people have always been here<\/a>. Let this guide serve as a starting point for readers to discover and appreciate the depth and diversity of transgender poetry. Here are just a few deceased trans poets and the stories of their lives from the 19th century to present:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Count S\u00e1ndor Vay (1859 \u2013 1918)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Count S\u00e1ndor Vay | Image courtesy of Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Count S\u00e1ndor Vay<\/a> was a trans Hungarian poet and journalist<\/a> who subverted societal norms to express his true identity. Richard von Krafft-Ebing documented Sandor’s story in his book Psychopathia Sexualis<\/a><\/em>. Vay passed in most circles as a cisgender man quite convincingly; one of the greatest Hungarian prose writers of the 20th century, Gyula Kr\u00fady, wrote that Vay could have fooled even the madam from the Mark Twain novels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vay’s gender journey began with a lie that became a truth. Sandor’s father, Count Ladislas Vay, needed a male heir in order to be able to pass on his title and estate. When Sandor was born, his mother the Countess was informed that she hadn’t obtained the male she had hoped for, but to please her husband she decided to pretend her Sandor was a boy after all<\/a>. Sandor was given an education suitable for a noble boy and his own father never suspected the deception of the Countess until Sandor was 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Count and Countess tried to make Sandor become a girl named Sarolta, but he rebelled. He knew he was a man and asked to be able to join the army or to go to university, but his father refused. At the age of 16, Vay began publishing poems under the name of Sarolta Vay in the Vas\u00e1rnapi Ujs\u00e1g<\/em> (Sunday News). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Sandor was 21, he was no longer under the control of his parents, so he dressed in smart and fashionable men’s clothes and traveled around Europe. By 1880, Vay lived entirely as a man, engaging in typical “male” behavior such as drinking, duels, and travel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vay worked as a male journalist both before and after the sensational trial for his marriage to a woman in 1889. While he was detained after an arrest, it was discovered that Vay had forged documents and that “biologically” he was “female.” It was decided that Sandor had “hereditary taint<\/a>.” As a result, the experts of that time decided that the fraud he had committed was because of his “condition” and “mental illness.” The court released him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the controversy, in 1908 a street in his home town was named Count S\u00e1ndor Vay in his honor. Between 1900 and 1910, Vay compiled over 400 works and published them in 15 volumes as Gr\u00f3f Vay S\u00e1ndor munk\u00e1i<\/em> (The Works of Count S\u00e1ndor Vay). But after 1910, newspaper and book publishers were reluctant to publish Vay’s works. He moved to Switzerland and wrote stories which were published in the Sunday edition of Pesti H\u00edrlap<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 1918, suffering from pneumonia, Vay died of pleurisy. Obituaries in Hungary lamented his passing and called him “Hungary’s George Sand<\/a>,” emphasizing the loss his death would be to Hungarian literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vay’s work and life story remain an important part of Hungary\u2019s literary and cultural heritage, providing early insights into the complexities of gender identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ovida Delect (1926 \u2013 1996)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Ovida Delect | Image courtesy of Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A French poet, communist, and resistance fighter during World War II, Ovida Delect<\/a> was a trans woman who used her literary talent to articulate her experiences. She significantly contributed to the visibility of trans women in French literature and film. Additionally, Delect identified similarities between her own experience and that of Christine Jorgensen<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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