Caylee Gardner

A digital drawing of author Maia Kobabe, a white nonbinary person with short brown hair wearing a patterned blue shirt, who scowls while holding up a copy of eir book GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR. Maia is saying: H.R. 7661 is a national book banning bill which seeks to remove any book that "involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism" from all public schools in the US. This would ban my books, and any other book with trans themes, from public schools. PLEASE call your House Reps and say: NO ON H.R. 7661!

H.R. 7661 is a national book banning bill which seeks to remove any book that "involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism" from all public schools in the US. This would ban all my books, & any other book with trans themes, from public schools. PLEASE call your House Reps & say: NO ON H.R. 7661!

The public library is an essential component of a 21st-century left political project as an example of both what is already available to us and what can be improved upon in the future. The library is a public good, and it is free as a public service.

I want more people to make the connections.

they're executing moms and nurses in the street. they're using preschoolers as bait. they're stealing people's dads and grandmas and children. they're tear gassing babies. they're staking out schools. there is no remedy but abolition. any proposal that doesn't start there is an act of violence.

Ask not what your representative will do for you (nothing), ask how you can make your representative so miserable they quit their job

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

we are living in fascism right now

people being in the streets means something. never let your cynicism convince you otherwise.

They want us to complain about the postal service, the public bus, Amtrak, public schools. They want that miniscule, repeated buy-in. Refuse it. Appreciate and care for our common good. That's daily and practical solidarity

What librarians have been Cassandra'ing since 2020. This was always the endgame for this current wave of book bans. It's never been about the books, it's about erasing options and imposing fascism.

Issue 4 is out now!

You can read the work of seven immensely talented contributors at
garlicpresslit.com/issues/issue-4

Thank you for everyone who submitted last year! We’re now open to submissions for issue 5!

The Trans Literature Preservation Project: A Practical Guide to Resisting Censorship Project 2025 wants to criminalize trans literature. Here’s a game plan for keeping our stories alive.

Okay, here’s the deal: RIGHT NOW is the time for concrete, direct action.

If you’re following me, it’s probably because you care about trans art and trans literature. The article below lays out my suggestions for dozens of concrete actions you can take to preemptively combat literary censorship.

Delighted to have a poem in this issue among so many talented contributors! 💙