florida, i love you violent, by Simran Chugani

Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

florida, i love you violent is a love letter to the communities that hold resistance and joy in the same breath – to those who understand that both love and violence are necessary components for self-acceptance, growth and empowerment. Chugani’s debut chapbook explores a complex love with the place they call home: a love that is fractured by political and social hostility, but one  that finds liberation and agency through ancestral connection and chosen family.

These poems speak to and from the margins – where transgender communities organize, where immigrant communities celebrate, where history is carried and resisted in the body. Through a collage of poetic styles and voices, Chugani captures a story of Florida that defies headlines and stereotypes: one that is unapologetically queer, fiercely diverse, and deeply beautiful. They invite readers to witness the radical act of loving a place enough to call it home, even when it does not always love you back.

All royalties earned from this chapbook between June - November 2025 will be donated to Point of Pride, an organization that provides financial aid and direct support to transgender folks in need of health and wellness care.

Simran Chugani (they/them) is a poet, health care leader, and marathoner based in Orlando, Florida. Their poetry is a love letter to the communities that raised them, and the communities that encourage  them to continue making art. Blending ancestral knowledge with unruly joy, their work tells stories of healing, becoming, and resistance. Chugani’s poems find power in nuance, honoring both the gravity and whimsy of everyday life. Their writing has been featured at poetry venues across the United States.