We’re happy to announce that you can now pre-order copies of Transchool Volume 2! If you’re not familiar with Transchool, it’s an incredible program led by Ren Heintz, funded by Allies in Arts and inspired by the mutual aid account @transanta. They offer young trans and nonbinary adults 18-25, from all over the U.S., the paid opportunity to take creative writing classes as well as to receive mentorship from established, celebrated trans and nonbinary authors.
Transchool Vol. 2 is an anthology of multi-genre writing by the students of the second Transchool class, who gathered to write in the summer of 2024, before 2025 brought a new wave of extreme threats to trans life and safety. In their intro letter to this book, Ren Heintz reminds us of the exhausting nature of the fight to exist, and also the huge value of the space Transchool makes and collected work in this book.
“Trans people have been here before so we’re ready to fight: It’s more like hearing from your elder that this is actually worse than it was in 1978 and taking that at face value. Or better yet, it’s more like understanding that fighting is not a preferred affect in most trans bodies, desiring instead that old thing called joy, or delight, or love, or wildness. Or more simply, it’s like being asked for the sixteenth time to talk about the leaky pipe, the stain that won’t come out of your shirt, or the scar on your shoulder when perhaps, more so and more eagerly, you’re generally thinking about sweet peas in your plot of the garden, your friends’ denim jacket, or the scars on your chest that you adorn and adore. Or, perfectly, it’s like what Jo writes in their poem, ‘Some things taste better cut.’”
When you pre-order this book, you’re supporting Co—Conspirator Press’ ability to publish anthologies like these, and 40% of profits are shared with Transchool. We’re also pleased to have Transchool Vol. 1 back in stock, and we’re doing a deal where you can get both Transchool anthologies for $60.