The Black Root Press
The Black Root Press is an independent, self-funded literary press and digital journal dedicated to publishing work by trans and nonbinary writers and artists. We believe trans and nonbinary creators deserve spaces where their work can exist on its own terms. That work might explore gender, identity, or transition, but it doesn’t have to. It can be about hunger, grief, sex, ghosts, family, bad decisions, strange towns, ordinary Tuesdays, or anything else worth making art about.
We publish poetry, fiction, nonfiction, visual art, and other creative work without asking artists to translate themselves for a mainstream audience or package their identities into something easily understood.
As a small, independently run press, our resources are limited, and we are not currently able to offer payment to contributors. However, contributors will receive a complimentary print copy.
Behind The Black Root
Luke Allis
Managing Editor
Luke Allis is a poet and the founder of The Black Root Press. Based in Portland, Oregon, his writing explores identity, desire, memory, transformation, and the complicated ways we learn to see ourselves and one another.
He created Black Root out of a desire for something he wanted to see more of: spaces where trans and nonbinary artists could be published without being expected to make their identities the subject of the work.
Alongside his writing, Luke has a BA in Creative Writing, an MBA and a professional background in program management, education, and building creative projects from idea to launch. At Black Root, he oversees editorial direction, submissions, production, and the considerably less glamorous work of keeping an independent press running.