Kay Ulanday Barrett on Finding Nourishment

“Food was our peace treaty. Somebody could dislike my haircut. Not like that I’m queer. Dislike the way I was politicizing myself or have a different ideology in the way I protest. But when we got down to the table, we could critique the food in front of us. I think there is this sensation of food bringing us back alive.”

Kay Ulanday Barrett is a published poet, performer, educator, food writer, cultural strategist, and transgender, gender non-conforming, and disability advocate based in New York and New Jersey, whose work has been showcased nationally and internationally. Their second book, More Than Organs (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2020) received a 2021 Stonewall Honor Book Award by the American Library Association and is a 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature Finalist. They are a 2020 James Baldwin Fellowship recipient, three-time Pushcart Prize Nominee, and two-time Best of the Net Nominee.