Works by
Emanuel Xavier
(Writer)

In 1996, Emanuel Xavier took the New York City spoken word scene by storm, quickly becoming one of the most significant voices to emerge from the neo-Nuyorican poetry movement. Following in the tradition of writers/performers like Miguel Piñero, Xavier captivated audiences with a fresh and poignant brand of art that celebrated sexuality, Latino heritage, and the often brutal streets of New York.

A painful past of sexual abuse at the hands of an older cousin, rejection by a devoutly religious (and homophobic) mother, homelessness, and a life of prostitution and drug-dealing, are among some of the experiences that have served as inspiration for the vibrant and emotionally raw poems for which Xavier has become famous.  -- from Saints & Sinners

• Best Gay Erotica 2008 (2007), Emanuel Xavier and Richard Labonte, eds.
  Whether you like it rough and surly, smooth and sultry, or quick and raw, you’ll find it in Best Gay Erotica 2008. Here are 20 of the hottest and best-written man-on-man sex stories to appear in print this year. In “Underground Operator,” two men on a nearly empty subway platform indulge in forceful, anonymous sex that lets them momentarily forget the stifling summer heat. “Donuts to Demons” finds a self-described “rock'n'roll artfag” searching for a lover “as patient and gifted and generous as he advertised on craigslist.”

• Bullets & Butterflies: queer spoken word poetry (2005) -- Finalist 2005 Lambda Literary Awards for Anthology
  Emanuel Xavier has edited an extraordinary anthology collecting work from America’s hottest queer spoken word performers and slam-poets. Bullets & Butterflies features vibrant, sexy, and shocking new poetry focused on sexuality, gender, class, race, religion, and politics by Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Regio Cabico, Staceyann Chin, Celena Glenn, Daphne Gottlieb, Maurice Jamal, Shane Luitjens, Marty McConnell, Travis Montez, Alix Olsen, Shailja Patel, horehound stillpoint, and Emanuel Xavier.
   

  " . . . restores some much-needed honesty to the [spoken word] genre with its poignant poems, which touch upon subjects such as love, identity, ruptured families, revolution, death, rejection and bigotry." -- New York Post

• Americano (2002)
  With Americano, the self-proclaimed Pier Queen has grown up. With thirty-five new poems, Emanuel Xavier considers what it means to be American - but Latino; Latino - but gay; Nuyorican - but Ecuadorian; revolutionary - but not an activist. In essence, Americano is the next chapter in the life of a native son surviving the contradictions of his homeland.

• Christ-Like (1999)
  "Nuyorican author and poet Emanuel Xavier unleashes his debut novel, Christ-Like, with all the fury of an East Coast blizzard . . . Absolutely captivating and beautifully written . . . " -- QV Magazine, January 2000

• Pier Queen (1997) -- Winner Nuyorican Poet's Cafe Grand Slam Championship
  "Once in a generation, a new voice emerges that makes us see the world in a dazzling new light. Emanuel Xavier is that kind of writer. . . exciting. . . vibrant. . . unique. . . a visionary bard." -- Jaime Manrique, author