JULIAN GUY
Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, on Numu, Shoshone, and Washoe land, Julian (they/he) grew up among sagebrush, stars, wildfires, and animal skulls scattered across the desert. Julian began writing poetry at the age of 17. They have always thought of writing as an interdisciplinary practice where everything—from grocery shopping with friends, to buying gas station scratchers with siblings, uprooting weeds in the dirt with their mother, or driving under a smoke-stained summer sky after work—has a place within their writing practice. It is with this principle in mind that Julian strives to be a writer not only in poems and short stories, but also in their community. Anything that bridges, connects, or binds people, is doing the work that poetry aims to do, so share a bowl of fruit, stay out on the porch conversing, shovel the neighbor’s driveway. Julian believes poetry and writing is just as much something we do with our hearts and hands, in care for our communities and world, as it is something we say aloud, write down, or send out for publication. Poetry is our shared language; words hold us.
Julian’s work has been published and recognized in many journals and magazines, from The Adroit Journal, Catapult, Lesbians are Miracles, the Deerfield Public Library’s Queer Poem-a-Day Podcast, the lickety~split, and more. Julian is a queer and trans writer, workshop leader, editor, baker, and nature enthusiast. He is particularly excited about tide pools, forests, and spotting wild animals. In his free time, catch him bringing home too many books from the public library, baking desserts, and binging bad tv shows with too many candles lit. Julian and his partner, Alex, currently reside in the ancestral land of the Onondaga Nation, Syracuse, NY, where they both work in the service industry and yearn to find a stray puppy to take home.