The Orange and Pink Sunset

The sun has set on what my life used to be,

there's no going back,

but that loss allows the stars to shine,

and I'm more at home in the moonlight anyway. In The Orange and Pink Sunset, Ivy L. James weaves a tapestry of her life as a queer woman, from childhood crushes to the labels she's tried on to religious discrimination. Her raw words express agony and joy in equal measure. She provides a refreshing perspective with an understandable voice, and her narrative style feels like sharing a pot of tea with a close friend. This impactful poetry chapbook is a vulnerable discussion of what it's like to find herself as a lesbian, and in the end, James chooses love over hate, even in moments of pain. Content warnings: Some poems touch on the author's experiences with familial homophobia and religious homophobia. This collection also includes mild adult language, sensual content, and brief violent imagery. *** PRAISE "James' writing is sweet, candid, and necessary. Her poems tell tales that will undoubtedly be relatable to the queer reader, provoking feelings of sorrow and solidarity both, and gradually fostering a sense of bright, palpable hope. Fresh yet enchantingly familiar, The Orange and Pink Sunset bleeds with authenticity."

- Rose McCoy, author of When the World Didn't End "Exquisite joys & sorrows are laid out before you, like rare gems on an offering table right from the jump. Bodyblows & massive hooks to the soul & spine on every page, snatching the air out your lungs, bringing you to tears a time or two on moments that hit so so so near to home, but instilling a craving to keep reading. It ends so sweet, so subtle, so perfect, you go back and read it again. In short: Ivy L. James offers here a rapturous sermon in the chapel of Sappho, and we should all be ever so grateful for the privilege to take in The Orange and Pink Sunset. Just make sure to bring an offering for Saint Sailor Neptune, won't you?"

- Clem Flowers, author of I Know Nothing But The Night (Bullshit Lit) & KUDZU (Cowboy Jamboree Press)