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Author Signed Copies | Barnes & Noble | Reparations Club
"In this innovative work of self-portraiture and poetry, Reprise looks at 2020-2024 with an overarching question: what does it mean to grapple with an America that has let so many down and continues to
Golden’s collection illuminates a path through national uprisings, anti-trans violence, family loss, and a global pandemic. These sonically playful poems and assertive, color-saturated portraits reveal a stark vulnerability that invites readers to look deeply at times of great and, possibly, liberatory uncertainty.
At its heart, this collection asks: Where is home? Who is free? What makes a nation?
Golden seeks portals towards self-liberation. In their pursuit, we’re invited to witness and learn from their interior revolution, from which they emerge more free to declare themselves in small and large ways: Whether stating I just want to wear my orange dress to the tennis courts & come back home unbothered or I am home in the arms of the armed.
Building on their debut collection, A Dead Name That Learned How to Live and their award-winning self-portraiture series, On Learning How to Live, Golden honors the living siege & sorrow, rage & revival, joy & creation of being Black and trans in America."
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Short Bio
Golden (they/them) is a gender non-conforming photographer, poet, and educator currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts (Massachusett people & Wampanoag land). They are the author of A Dead Name That Learned How to Live (Game Over Books, 2022) and Reprise (Haymarket Books, 2025). Their photographic self-portraiture series On Learning How to Live documents Black trans life at the intersections of surviving & living in the United States. (Full Bio Here)
WHAT AM I UP TO?
Work In Progress
Golden is gearing up for their first national tour starting this Spring/Summer 2025.
Golden's latest interview in the Spring 2025 Issue of Washington Square Review
Catch Golden's latest interview with Janay Kelly for Washington Square Review's Spring 2025 Issue.
Golden returns to the stage for "Reclaiming Folk: Celebrating People of Color in Folk Music"
Saturday, March 22nd, 1pm to 3pm at Rabb Hall in Boston Public Library.
Join us for a celebration of Women’s History month with Reclaiming Folk: Celebrating People of Color in Folk Music at The Boston Public Library, featuring Naomi Westwater, Pamela Means, Adeline Um, and special guest poet, Golden! This programs is brought to you by The Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture (City of Boston).
Reclaiming Folk is an event series celebrating people of color in folk music, created by singer-songwriter Naomi Westwater. Folk music is traditional music, folk music is storytelling, folk music is the music of the people, and folk music is a voice for what’s happening in the world today. In our society, there is often no space for marginalized people to tell their stories. Reclaiming Folk seeks to make space for musicians of color to tell their stories and share the stories of our past, so that our future can be a more inclusive place for all.
This FREE event includes original music from folk musicians singing in the round, cover songs that honor the musicians who came before us, short interviews with the musicians about folk music, and a Q&A from the audience.
"I am home in the arms of the armed" on View in New York City
Tala Arts is pleased to present "Insistence on Another World," a group art exhibition that aims to embody the power and collective vision of queer and trans Black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) artists, and cultural workers curated by Marin Watts and Luce Capo Lincoln.
The artworks featured in the show present a bold display of our community’s power, our acts of resistance, our unwavering pleasure, and our embodied reverence. All of the artists in the show share a practice rooted in the sharing of reflections, beliefs, philosophies, and imaginings informed by their specific legacies and cultural histories. This exhibition hopes to bring together artists who are in conversation with historical lineages, queerness, grief, joy, and spirit(s) in the midst of the material complexities of our present moment.
Featured Artists: Golden, Saba Taj, So + Bex, Tourmaline, Geeta Lewis, Marin Watts, Kim Baglieri, Amir Khadar, Demian DinéYazhi', Mickaela Bradford, Shadow Work Media, Meehaun Glasper-Wade, Maximilián Vega-Vélez and Noa Dimedetti
NEW POEM ALERT!
Check out Golden's new poem "& WHEN THEY COME FOR ME (Reprise)" from their forthcoming book REPRISE, published in the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day (curated by torrin a. greathouse).
WINNER OF THE QUEER|ART 2023 ILLUMINATIONS GRANT
Queer|Art is pleased to announce the winner of the fourth annual Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists, Golden. The Boston-based visual artist will receive a $10,000 cash grant, professional development support, and individual studio visits with members of the judges panel to support their practice.
2023 Illuminations Grant Judge, Jonathan Lyndon Chase writes: “Golden’s visual photography evokes power, vulnerability, beauty, and glowing prowess. There are meditations on self reflection, communal embrace. The documentation on lived experiences in the Queer community and personal self expression are reminiscent of a home feeling.”
Fellow Grant Judge, Lauren Haynes continues: “Golden’s photographs stood out among this year’s very strong group of visual artists. Each image left me wanting to see more and to engage more deeply with their practice—I am excited to see how Golden’s work continues to evolve.” Learn More
2023 Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Author Signed Copies | Amazon | SPD Books
"An honest lyric, a mighty harpoon straight from the heart, Golden’s debut full-length, A DEAD NAME THAT LEARNED HOW TO LIVE weaves poems, family photographs, & self-portraits to share a journey of survival & living in the American south. Exploring themes of loss & legacy, nation & love language, forgiveness & fortitude, Blackness & being, Golden continually asks: What shifts within & around us when we choose to name ourselves & our kin here—our tragedy & triumphs, our human failures & feelings, our desires to be free?
Released on their parent’s 30th wedding anniversary (August 29th, 2022) as a dedicated love letter & living archive, this debut is an awe & ode towards southern Virginia & Eastern Shore Maryland, Black family pasts, presents, & futures, to Black queer beginnings & belongings outside and within the family home."
WINNER OF APERTURE/GOOGLE 2023 CREATOR LABS PHOTO FUND
"Google’s Creator Labs and Aperture are thrilled to announce the recipients of the second season of The Creator Labs Photo Fund—an initiative providing financial support to encourage artists at formative moments in their careers. Started in 2021 and made possible by Google Devices and Services in partnership with Aperture, the second season of the Creator Labs Photo Fund supports thirty artists working in photography and lens-based practices with a one-time $6,000 grant.
The winning artists of this year’s Creator Labs Photo Fund are:
Ramie Ahmed, Wesaam Al-Badry, Devin Blaskovich, Kierra Branker, Luis Corzo, Daniel Diasgranados, Lisa Elmaleh, Ryan Frigillana, Golden, Jeremy Grier, Avijit Halder, Oji Haynes, Jenica Heintzelman, Ramona Jingru Wang, Natalie Keyssar, Ryan Patrick Krueger, Xi Li, Ira Lupu, Yael Malka, Ashley Markle, Ashley McLean, Arlene Mejorado, Shala Miller, Clara Mokri, Colton Rothwell, Keisha Scarville, Tam Stockton, Jennifer Teresa Villanueva, Isaiah Winters, and Zhidong Zhang." Learn Mor.