Word art

BY Sarah ELGaTIaN

Camonghne Felix, Shelley Wong and Michelle Zauner are among the most innovative writers working today and all happen to be queer women of color which, historically, may have kept them from the spotlight.

Zauner, frontwoman for the band Japanese Breakfast and guitarist for Little Big League, became a household name in the literary world with the release of her 2021 memoir Crying in H Mart (AA Knopf). Reviewers praised her use of language and vulnerability as she documented the bereavement experienced surrounding her mother’s cancer diagnosis and death.

In a 2022 interview with San Diego LGBT News, Zauner said she had difficulty finding a place among queer musicians, adding, “I hope in ten years it’s not such a shock to see a queer person of color making music.”

Author and Chinese immigrant Xixuan Collins of Bettendorf said she doesn’t often see women of color headlining literary events, and openly queer artists even less. “I think [headlining Felix, Wong and Shelley] would be seminal,” Collins said. “On the other hand, it’s still Iowa.”

Outside of Des Moines and Iowa City, Collins said she has noticed little representation of marginalized people on the scale of a large festival headliner.

Quad Cities artist Jenna Isbell spoke to the importance of seeing oneself represented at arts festivals in particular, in both rural and urban communities.

“I would be shocked to see three queer women of color headlining the conferences I go to,” they said. “If I wanted to see myself, if I want to see something other than cis-hetero white men, it almost has to be off the beaten path, and smaller. Most of these big festival spaces are really unwelcoming.”

Bronx-born Camonghne Felix has some experience finding her voice within traditionally white, heteronormative systems. She spent her first years after college in politics, serving as a communications strategist and speechwriter for former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. She was also in charge of communications for Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign.

Felix’s debut poetry collection, Build Yourself A Boat (Haymarket Books, 2019), was longlisted

Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner

MCF: Michelle Zauner, Thursday, Apr. 6, 5:45, Hancher Auditorium, included with pass ($55-110)

Build Yourself a Boat, Camonghne Felix

MCF: Camonghne Felix, Saturday, Apr. 8, TBA, free