Unbound Edition Press today announced it has signed popular LGBTQ+ writer Alexander Cheves to a two-book contract for collections of essays and poetry exploring the dynamics of Queer desire.
Cheves is best known for his work as a contributing editor at The Advocate Magazine, where he writes the widely read “Sexy Beast” column. He also runs “Love, Beastly” (www.lovebeastly.com), an advice blog known for its frank, unflinching answers to questions about Queer sex and love. His work also has appeared in VICE, Out Magazine, Them and TheBody, among other publications.
“I started writing to share my experiences in kink, high-risk sex and dating with HIV to help others feel less alone. It became a journey of discovering and owning my sluttiness,” said Cheves. “Slut is another word for expert. I don’t think we’ve fully destigmatized that word as a culture. Doing so is especially necessary in this era of internet censorship and content policing.”
The collection of essays, tentatively titled Love, Beastly: Essays on Sluthood, explores the unique dynamics of sex and love in LGBTQ+ relationships, along with the politics of pleasure-seeking and the philosophical rightness of hedonism, as Cheves sees it. The title is scheduled for release on October 1, 2021.
The untitled poetry collection will include illustrations by Cheves, a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Together, the poems and illustrations express the darker sides of desire and the power found in erotic surrender. “We have many volumes of love poetry,” said Cheves. “I think we need more volumes of poetry about sex divorced of romance and love, because it’s a beautiful part of the human experience.” The collection will publish in 2022.
“I started this press to identify and develop contemporary voices, Queer voices, that are not out there widely enough. What Alex has to say is as bold as it is current, and ultimately, it unsettles old notions in ways that are liberating and very powerful,” said Patrick Davis, publisher at Unbound Edition Press. “This generation deserves a confident, honest voice regarding sex and relationships, the sustaining pleasures of life.”
