Rural, queer, and southern all adequately summarize my reality, my lived experiences, and my voice as an author. For (Un)Natural, I took the oppression I experienced throughout my childhood and adolescence as an opportunity to reach others and unpack the abuse in a healthy way. Now, my creative pieces unveil the trauma I hid and often intersect with religious themes and imagery because you cannot live in the rural South without encountering some kind of religion. Beyond the trauma, though, my work also emphasizes the beautiful and the sublime, particularly in reference to the mundane, and seeks to find glimpses of humor to curtail the trauma.

 

Nathan Holloway is a poet, photographer, and composition instructor living in rural Arkansas and documenting the experience of being rural, queer, and southern. You can find his work in The Esthetic Apostle, GASHER, or on Twitter @unnatural_state.