Khadijah Queen is the author of eight books of poetry and prose, including ANODYNE (Tin House 2020), winner of the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. In 2025 the Foundation for Contemporary Arts recognized Queen’s work with the Cy Twombly Award for Poetry. BETWEEN THE DEVIL & THE DEEP BLUE SEA, a memoir about her time in the U.S. Navy alongside short histories of maritime women, is available from Legacy Lit/Hachette.

Author Photo: Marco Giugliarelli for the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, 2023

VISIT WWW.KHADIJAHQUEEN.COM

Q&A

Q&A with Khadijah Queen, author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

By ASHAKI M. JACKSON

"I was a reluctant memoir writer and I had to decide what felt more important: keeping the stories to myself or perhaps making a dent in the stereotypes that people have about women's experiences on active duty."

INSIGHT

I HAVE QUESTIONS

By KHADIJAH QUEEN

What is the name of the violence they have learned?
What kind of love have they learned?
Why is it so terrifying when we love ourselves?

POETRY

Two Poems by Khadijah Queen

By KHADIJAH QUEEN

From “I'm So Fine: A List of Famous Men & What I Had On”; “Theory: Evidence of uncertain shifts”