Jay is a prize-winning performance poet who is known for the emotional depth and honesty of his poetry. This collection takes Jay’s story from schooldays, as a scared and mixed up transgender child, to the hopeful young man he is now.
The collection starts with poems going back to schooldays – and the anger and fear Jay experienced - and progresses slowly through to the hope of today. The poems are so heartfelt you can feel the passion in them rise from the page. The early anger and urgency are slowly replaced as the book progresses and hope and the good things of the world start to impact on the personal.
There is no sense of the situation of the teenager being looked down on or belittled in any way – this will speak directly to the hearts of those who may be confused or worried, misunderstood or fearful. This is a collection to dive into, to pick up when you are in need of some self-acceptance – but you may find it hard to put down!
This is Jay Hulme’s first published collection of poetry. It showcases his unique voice and form of expression.
The poems have been carefully selected to chart Jay’s journey from growing up in a working-class family in Leicestershire to his feelings and thoughts about school life and his experience as a transgender teenager.
Jay Hulme is an awardwinning poet and performer from Leicester, Winner of Slambassadors 2015, and finalist in the 2016 Roundhouse Poetry Slam. He has recently branched out into children’s poetry, and his work was Highly Commended in the 2018 CLiPPA Awards. He also works as an ambassador for Inclusive Minds, promoting inclusion and diversity in children’s publishing, and doing sensitivity reads to ensure depictions of trans people in books are both accurate and unoffensive.
