Underground Bookshelf

Author Avery Brooks returns to the steamy city of New Orleans with a smart and sexy sapphic romance that asks, “Can workplace rivals fall in love and find a happily ever after?”

Welcome back to guest essayist, Valek Akechi! in this essay, Valek discusses Frances Burney's eighteenth-century work, The Witlings, which satirizes people who feign intellectual and literary knowledge for the sake of social standing. This essay was originally published on Scorpio Assassin Studios.

wanting you is likewanting to be with the moonwe are two polar pointsin the same universeand you are close enough to pull my waterswith a distance that doesn’t disruptthe world’s equilibriumbecause it seems thatbeing with youis against the rulesof physics and probability

As you well know, we are living through a time rife with political upheaval, ripe for protest, and deeply in need of real social change. Genocide in Gaza, ongoing war in Ukraine, modern-day slavery in Congo, waves of antisemitism, the Trump administration's actions against immigrants, free speech, transgender and other Queer folks, the list goes on and on and on. It's hard to know how best to focus your efforts during times as tumultuous as these. In this series of resources, I've collected works of nonfiction about the history and future of protest as well as a few other resources about activism and current issues that you might find useful in your activism today.

Q: Please introduce yourself! Share your name, pronouns, and something fun, interesting, curious, or important (take your pick) about yourself that you would like your audience to know.

We are United,In grief,In struggle,In fear,Of the very government that leads us,The United States of Sorrow...We are United,In not life, but labor,In not liberty, but labels,Happiness, we can barely pursue survival,The United States of Lies...We are United,In poverty,In unanswered prayers,In racism,United in all the wrong...The United States of Suffering...We were United,By war,By slavery,By oppression,United by all the wrong...The United States of America...

Pride in oneself, pride in a friend or family member, pride in standing up for an ideal - June is a time for centering LGBTQ+ Pride, identities, and experiences. Short stories, short memoirs, flash fiction, poems, and first chapters are all welcome! Please let me know if your submission comes with any content warnings. I also ask everyone to refrain from egregious violent or sexual content as I don't put age restrictions on content.

Spring now artsy

in the calm of twilight’s fold

Winter snow goin' far awayLike white clouds vanishing in dismayThe air is crisp, the sky is blueLight shines idle and trueGrass grows in radiant twilightThinking of the warming delightSpringtime snickers, happily, to the skyWhile looking down on showery mountain highWinds billow across blue yonder Life rests, effortless, in casual slumber

My eyes roll back.I’m losing control top down –Trapped.

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted their work to this year's Poetry Open. I was thrilled to review the work of a large percentage of new participants as well as welcome the poems of some Underground Bookshelf regulars. I'm so happy to see this community grow and develop!