Prom Queens!
Celebrating Prom Poems & Stories by Queens Writers
This year, a college counselor I work with at Talent Unlimited High School in NYC complimented my ability to connect with the students. One of the hardest parts about the college essay is learning how to be vulnerable on the page. It’s easy for me to connect with my students over how scary that is because, as a working writer, I get rejected—a lot.
I often joke with them that handing over a first draft feels like saying,
“Here’s my heart. Now tell me what’s wrong with it.”
My greatest joy is helping students of all ages push past the scary part to embrace the value of their personal stories as a college essay writing instructor and as the producer of the storytelling series No, YOU Tell It!
Therefore, I’m thrilled to announce that No, YOU Tell It! has partnered with Poets of Queens to publish the forthcoming anthology, Prom Queens: Celebrating Prom Poems & Stories by Queens Writers, coming in the spring of 2026.
Supported, in part, by a Queens Art Fund: New Work Grant that I received, the anthology stems from a series of Prom Queens: Prom Story and Portrait Trading Workshops held around Queens in May and June of 2025.
During these free, generative workshops, participants were invited to share their prom story through a series of written and visual prompts provided by Zach Rothman-Hicks (Gabbing with Gays) and me.
I also read from my memoir After After Prom, which I’m working to get published (hello, rejection!), and served as the inspiration for the Prom Queens workshops and anthology.
Sharing stories about going or not going to prom allows us to find commonalities within each other’s unique cultures and identities. This anthology aims to help people, including future prom-goers, celebrate each other’s prom stories instead of feeling pressured to live up to what pop culture has taught us prom is supposed to look like.
What better place to give voice to a diverse range of prom stories than The World’s Borough!
Prom is short for promenade, a French word meaning “a leisurely walk.” This slow walk also refers to the parade of guests, often in pairs, which acts as an opening ceremony for a cotillion or debutante ball. Inspired by No, YOU Tell It!’s practice of creating story partners who help each other share the stories that need to be told, the anthology is arranged as a poetry-and-prose promenade of paired-up Prom Queens contributors.
Each promenade pair is introduced by an illustration capturing their combined spirit by Queens artist and contributor A King McCarty, whose “Zombie Prom Queen” poem/song originated in one of the generative workshops.
Our book events (more info on those in 2026) will feature Prom Queens poetry and prose promenade pairs reading each other’s words aloud. Likewise, attendees will be encouraged to share their prom story by filling in the blanks of a series of PROMpts that were part of our 2025 No, YOU Tell It! “Prom Queens” show at Grove 34 in Astoria, Queens.
The Prom Queens anthology is a continued celebration of prom poems and stories, Queens writers, and you.