Camonghne Felix
Biography
Camonghne Felix is a poet, essayist, writer, and political strategist from the Bronx, New York. She earned an MA in Arts Politics from New York University and an MFA from Bard College. Her early literary work included the chapbook Yolk (2015), followed by her debut full-length poetry collection, Build Yourself a Boat (2019), which was longlisted for the National Book Award for Poetry and shortlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award and Lambda Literary Award. Felix has also worked in political communications and strategy, including work connected to Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign.
Felix expanded her literary work into memoir with Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation (2023), which examines heartbreak, relationships, memory, and reclamation. Her writing has appeared in publications including The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine, Vanity Fair, and New York Magazine. Her work across poetry, memoir, essays, and political communications has established a multidisciplinary literary practice connecting personal experience with questions of race, gender, sexuality, and political power.
In 2026, Felix published Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom, a part-memoir, part-manifesto examining Black radical literary traditions, political experience, and language as a means of imagining freedom. She is currently Chair of Nonfiction and Professor of Writing-Multi-Genre at The New School, where she teaches across genres. Felix has publicly described herself as Black, pansexual, and a woman, and her work has been recognized within LGBTQ+ literary communities.
BQW Impact
Felix's significance to BQW lies in her literary exploration of Black womanhood, sexuality, trauma, love, political power, and freedom. Her identification as a Black queer writer places those subjects within a broader tradition of Black queer literary expression and cultural criticism.
Her work also connects literary practice with political strategy. Let the Poets Govern draws from her experiences in political communications while examining Black radical poetic traditions and the liberatory possibilities of language. Through poetry, memoir, essays, and teaching, Felix contributes to contemporary conversations about Black identity, queer experience, political imagination, and the role of literature in shaping collective possibilities.
Notable Works
Yolk (2015)
Felix's early poetry chapbook, published by Penmanship Books.
Build Yourself a Boat (2019)
Felix's debut full-length poetry collection, longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry and shortlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award and Lambda Literary Award.
Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation (2023)
A memoir exploring heartbreak, relationships, loss, memory, and reclamation through Felix's blend of lyricism and literary nonfiction.
Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom (2026)
A part-memoir, part-manifesto examining Black radical literary traditions, political experience, and language as a means of imagining freedom.
Learn More
Current faculty profile documenting Felix's position as Chair of Nonfiction and Professor of Writing-Multi-Genre.
Publisher information for Let the Poets Govern.
Professional biography and literary career information.
Literary biography and career record.
Current creator-controlled hub for Felix's work and social presence.