A Flamboyance, by Jasper Joyner

Prose, poetry, chapbook, 32 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

A group of flamingos is a “flamboyance,” perhaps one of the most fitting, most iconic terms for a group of highly social, absolutely gorgeous birds. They flit and flaunt and during the rainy mating season, they even dance in unison. In doing so they show us all that there is a time for pompousness, flashiness and splendor.

Yet, so many of us humans struggle with this, flaunting. We grow embarrassed or self conscious or we’re naturally quite shy and we have a very hard time indeed. So maybe we can learn a thing or two from flamingos. To allow ourselves to live boldly more often.

A Flamboyance is a collection of prose, poetry, and a short story that (loosely) addresses the theme of flamboyance, or trying your best to be yourself as loudly and boldly as possible. Sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. All in hopes of finding love, community, and connection. 

Jasper (they/them) is a Black trans writer, humorist and author. Their work has been featured in The Offing, Oldster Mag, Huffington Post, anthology book, OUTSIDE THE XY, and others. In 2016, they created the satire site QUNTFRONT, which was later featured in Teen Vogue. They currently run a self-titled newsletter with the hopes of bringing biweekly whimsy to people's inboxes. It features interview series like Why Are You Funny, highlighting QTPoC comedy writers. They also mentor at the Sam & Devorah Trans Youth Project. Jasper's debut YA fantasy novel, JUNIPER LEAVES is out now.