World’s first Gay Christian Poetry Anthology Published this Month

World’s first Gay Christian Poetry Anthology Published this Month–
Sanctified: An Anthology of Poetry by LGBT Christians

BERKELEY, CA – This month marks the publication of the world’s first poetry anthology devoted exclusively to works by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans Christians. Justin R. Cannon, editor of Sanctified: An Anthology of Poetry by LGBT Christians, explains, “I am excited about this publication because LGBT Christians’ voices need to be heard not only in church meetings, city councils, and courtrooms, but also in the literary arena. I believe poetry is an intimate, very revealing form of writing, and that this anthology speaks deeply to the experience of queer Christians in our world.” He elaborates, “The many voices in this anthology reveal the deep pain and grief, longing and desire, and also the desires and joys of LGBT Christians, who are often caught between two world that are so often opposed to each other. These poems also give a glimpse of the many gifts we have to offer the church and society.”

Almost a year ago Cannon began collecting submissions from LGBT Christians through http://www.SanctifiedAnthology.com. He explains, “Reading through the countless submissions that we received was a crazy task–there were so many good poems that had to be narrowed down for the publication.” Remorsefully, Cannon confesses, “I knew I had to narrow it down, but it was still hard sending notices to the poets whose works were not accepted for publication. I am quite satisfied, though, with how the book has turned out.”

The final product is a beautiful tome of 142 pages featuring poetry by thirty-three poets including: Stephen Barlett-Re, Jeffrey Barnes, Ben Barton, J. Michael Braiden, Nathan I. Brisby, Justin Cannon, John Coons, Sharon E. Cutts, Trey Dayton, Edward Gerard Debonis, Christopher Alan Gaskins, Mario Gerada, Mario Gonzalez, Heidi Griepp, Chad Gurley, Linda Heidenreich, Lucas Roberto Hoare, Ryan Hollist, Timothy Holyoake, Wes Jamison, Jeffery Johnson, Henry Juhala, Erik J. Koepnick, Mark Koerber, Jose A. Lopez “Joalby”, Gregory Loselle, Timothy Metzner, Lucas Mix, Al-Antony Moody, Connie Schroeder, Richard Tetreault, Robert Thompson, and Fred Turpin.

Sanctified can be pre-ordered at http://www.SanctifiedAnthology.com, and will also be listed on Amazon.com by the end of the month (ISBN: 978-1438247854). Cannon is also the director of Inclusive Orthodoxy, an online ministry to LGBT Christians (http://www.InclusiveOrthodoxy.org) as well as an LGBT Christian dating service, http://www.RainbowChristians.com. He currently lives in Berkeley, California where he is pursuing priesthood in the Episcopal Church.