Exactly As I Am

A defiant, unflinching exploration of gender identity, gender discrimination and gender euphoria

let me tell you
how to lean gently on
one another without
rocking sideways.

Rae White's much-anticipated second poetry collection, Exactly As I Am, speaks to their lived experience as a non-binary transgender person. Their defiant, unruly poems interrogate the spaces transgender people are both assigned and denied in society, through unflinching explorations of gender identity, gender discrimination and gender euphoria. These poems lean against you, hold out their hand and offer you- a connection, a community, a call to action.

About the Author

Rae White is a non-binary transgender writer, author, educator and zine maker. Their poetry collection Milk Teeth (UQP, 2018) won 2017 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for 2019 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and commended in the 2018 Anne Elder Award. Rae's poem 'The last tourist' won Highest Queensland Entry in 2020 Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award. Their poem 'what even r u?' placed second in 2017 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Rae's poetry has been published in Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite Poetry Review, Meanjin, Overland, Rabbit and others. Rae is the editor of #EnbyLife (enbylife.net), a journal for non-binary and gender diverse creatives. They are the Events and Marketing Manager at Queensland Poetry.