Joy and happiness are not the same thing, says H. Melt, a Chicago-based poet, artist, educator, and documentarian of queer and trans communities.

While “happiness is an individual and often temporary gratification, feeling, and experience,” they’re much more interested in the pursuit of joy, which “feels so much more encompassing, collective, and like something you can share with other people,” they say.

Joy, paired with grief, is a one concept explored in H. Melt’s most recent collection, There Are Trans People Here (2021, Haymarket), which describes moments of resistance in queer and trans history as catalysts for today’s movements.

H. Melt joins WORT producer Jade Iseri-Ramos on today’s show for a conversation on joy, love, and the healing power of community. Along the way, they share selected poems and stories from their work documenting Chicago’s queer and trans communities.

H. Melt is also the author of several previous collections, including On My Way To Liberation, and The Plural, The Blurring. They’re also the editor of Subject to Change, an anthology featuring trans poets in dialogue.  You can find more about them on their website, and follow them @hmeltchi on Instagram and @HMeltChicago on Twitter.

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