Books:
Compost Your Despair is a chapbook calling for collective liberation – none of us are free until we are all free. It asks us to all show up for ourselves so we can show up for others. I share my personal experience of holding several identities – both oppressed and privileged – and how they intersect with one another in the work for calling for a free Palestine, the end to the violence of racism in the US, and ultimate queer liberation.
You can order your book here and I’ll send you a signed copy.
Compost Your Despair Book Review by Liza Sparks
When one cannot distinguish truth from lies and secrets from reality, it is hard to know what to hold on to and what to let go of. I Would Tell You a Secret is a collection of existential poems that explore the questions between discovery and self doubt, and what it means to be in a body that is always in transition. It navigates the very personal narrative of the author’s life, from physical transition, to growing up in dysfunction, the loss of family early in life, and the process of recovery from alcoholism and addiction. They tell their story of unlearning old narratives, and the navigation of deep grief and shame, while sitting in both despair and awe at the same time. This collection of poems mischievously dance between healing and activism, tangling personal growth and collective freedom from systemic oppression intentionally and with dependence. I Would Tell You a Secret takes the reader through this narrative in a non-linear way, seeking to not shine light on the dark spots, but to instead allow the reader to sit accompanied in the dark.
What people are saying:
Courage and craft. Hayden Dansky’s words are a gift to language itself. They make the unspeakable spoken and practice such care and candor in their work. “I Would Tell You a Secret” is not merely a book of secrets told but rather a lesson in revelation. Dansky’s work bridges the gap between truth and language, past and future, candor and care.
—Blake Marcelle
[I Would Tell You A Secret is] probably one of the most, if not the most, beautifully tragic and inspiring collections I’ve read in my life to date. And there’s so much softness that comes from toughness, grief, and the ability to keep going and finding.
— Jay Halsey
“For fucks sake, hot diggity, this is magic 😭 “
“Taking a deep dive into Hayden Dansky’s book. Holy moly guacamole. Go get yourself a copy and shed a few layers of skin. “
“Hayden is such a moving poet. This collection has so much heart in it and is so sad and so good and they’re so talented.”
“Truly incredible collection…more reading and feeling then I’ve done in a long time. “
[This] book is so good! I started flipping through to tell you some of my favorite poems, but there are too many to list! A few that jumped out: “Write Like Your Body” inspires me to be brave and write my truths even when I don’t know how they’ll go over. “Grammar Check” is amazing! “Queering Love” makes me go, “YES!”
“I just got [this] book in the mail and read it all! WOW. Thank you for the gift of your grief and vulnerability and courage and truth and life”
“I read it all at once which isn’t probably the best we to read it but I couldn’t help it.”
“Brought your book with me to work again today – figured I’d tell ya I’m already multiple re-reads in with it”
“A banger.”
“Hank fuckin’ slaps.”
“well I just cried my way through reading part 1 of your book… goodness gracious 🥲 your words are a salve, thank you .”
“I stayed up late last night reading [this] book; it was the most enraptured I’ve been by writing in memory…”
Publications:
Recent written work can be found here:
Hayden Dansky Writing & Photography 