Taiwana Shambley

Hi Charm City! Please allow this playful, angry doll a moment of your time to virtually (re)introduce herself, before she returns to a bedroom twerk session, gearing up for her next night out in Baltimore’s q***r club scene.

My name is Taiwana, and I’m a writer & doll who moved here a little over six months ago to join Bmore’s Black trans community, after becoming disillusioned with my first home of the Twin Cities in the aftermath of two killings that have reshaped me over the last couple of years—that of one of my little brothers, Ellijah, and that of RaLasia Wright, a doll who I didn’t know but who’s killing I felt, seeing people I grew up in community with dragging her in all kinds of names that weren’t hers, with a venom that no marginalized person deserves. I’ve been healing since moving to Bmore, meeting other dolls & writers & q***rs & Black q***rs, tending to my mental health, and creating crowds on the dance floors of D**e Nite and the Eagle with just my ass shaking. This post is a relaunch of my client services. :)

Not only am I a Black trans woman at a time where people just absolutely love Black trans women - on Monday, as soon as I came into work, I was fired from my last barista gig, a week after speaking out against the colorism I experienced from other staff there. I’m also new here, I don’t know a lot of people. So - ya gurl is vulnerable right now! It would mean a lot to me if other Baltimore locals shared this post with their homies and favorite creative writing organizations and such.

Thank you for your time and for reading and I hope to catch you at AWP this weekend!

In two weeks I’ll be teaching my inaugural anti-capitalist fiction class with and I would love to write liberatory worlds with you!

Access Funds are available, and it’s online so disabled folks and people outside of Minnesota can join.😁

It would mean a lot to me if you shared this with your writing homies, purchased a seat now, or saved the date for yourself to revisit later. You can register directly through my website or use the Loft’s link in the flyer. The final day to register is Jan 27th! 🤎

Ouu and I can’t wait til you click and see who we’re reading. 😍

Bonus content: Here are 7 reading strategies to help you get back into reading, brought to you by popular demand! These strategies work for me, they might work for you. How will you know if you don’t try?

Life-affirming language, guidance, and community feels really important today, and I’m a writer, and so here is my official statement on the 2024 US Presidential Election. Feel free to discuss and hold space in the comments or share for others. Ase. 🤎💛

With care,

Taiwana