Josh Cole
Author. Veteran. LGBTQ+ Community Builder.
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Excerpt from “Trans Firepit”
I am a trans memoirist, which is to say, my narrative is complicated.
If you were to search public records for the birth certificate of Joshua Tyson Cole, you wouldn’t find it. Not because I’m a con artist—no, simply a trans man whose home state makes it very difficult to update legal records. But mismatched paperwork can’t stop this recovering Southern gent from spreading the gay gospel like lovebugs on an S-10 Blazer windshield in late August.
Ever wonder what happens when a good little Southern Baptist discovers their gayness, joins the Army, almost gets arrested for the crime of having to pee, transitions gender, and falls madly in queer love while surviving their parents’ late-term abandonment? You’re about to find out.
About
Southern trans author Josh Cole (he/they) earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. For more than a decade, Joshua has performed storytelling, poetry, and essays, including at Huntingdon College, the University of South Alabama, Alabama State University, the University of Maryland, and more. During the pandemic, Joshua designed and implemented a free six-week creative writing class for LGBTQIA+ students of all ages. His mission is to create queer community in a world that would rather he not. Josh’s work has been featured in The Prelude, New Southern Fugitives, Alternating Current, Welter, and Baltimore Fishbowl. Curveball: The Alabama Son They Never Saw Coming is his first book.
Upcoming Engagements
To request reading and speaking engagements, contact Josh at joshcolewrites@gmail.com
Previous Engagements
Other Publications
New Southern Fugitives
Welter
The Prelude
Welter Online
Alternating Current
Baltimore Fishbowl
On a Personal Note
Josh hails from Grand Bay, Alabama, where watermelon and queer folx grow in lush abundance. In 2012, he marched his way through basic training and planted his boots in Maryland soil. For ten years, he’s lifted the corners of mouths, weights, the pen, and the spirits of those around him. His husband Will and his cat Stevie Nicks Kittypants sometimes let him pretend to be in charge. He loves hard and fast, for he knows no other way. Josh is the guy he hoped he’d turn out to be—and he’s still turning out.
