Queer people have long contributed enormously to the fabric of our community through work that adds texture, vibrancy, and contemplation to our lives. To honor those creative efforts locally, below is our seventh annual survey of LGBTQ artists in Wisconsin.

As always, this is by no means a completely comprehensive list. We reached out to our various networks for names and resources and did our best to contact each artist for updates. Entries are made through a form where participants are free to choose a category, self identify, and provide a description in their own words.

Thank you to everyone who participated and shared our form with their networks. We hope to continue building on this in future years, so feel free to reach out with recommendations at [email protected].

Burlesque & Drag
Comedians, Dance & Theater
DJs & Musician
Literary
Visual Arts, Crafters & Makers

Get on the list!

To be included in our next directory, fill out our artist form here.

Literary

Ashling Meehan-Fanning | poemsbyashling.com | Ashling Meehan-Fanning is a poet based in Madison whose work often includes themes of magic, ancestry, and the American Midwest. She spends a lot of time thinking about ghosts and trees. Ashling’s collection COLOSSAL GIRL was self-published in December 2020. 

Callen Harty | callenharty.com | Author of 24 produced plays, 50 monologues, and numerous articles, essays, and poems in various print/online sites. He has published 14 books, most recently, A Survivor’s Guide to Living. His monologues for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum’s annual cemetery tour, Talking Spirits, won awards from the Wisconsin Historical Society and the American Association of State and Local History.

Elizabeth Holden | linktr.ee/elizabeth.holden.author | Elizabeth is the author of Mighty Millie Novak, now available wherever books are sold. Liz was inspired by her own (plentiful) experiences with anxiety, roller derby, and ridiculous schemes.

Huckleberry Rahr | linktr.ee/huckle217 | Huckle grew up reading high fantasy. The books often had strong female characters, but lacked queer representation. The biggest desire Huckle had in creating stories was finding a way to incorporate a solid story line with twists and turns, a rainbow cast that looked and felt like their family and students, and a story anyone would find compelling, from teens to adults.

Han Raschka | hanraschka.com | Han (they/them) is a queer Midwest poet. Their first collection, Splinters (Collapse Press) was released in 2022, and their chapbook Enamel (Bottlecap Press) was published in 2023. They are the 2024 second place winner for the Wisconsin People and Ideas Contest.

Harper Hazelmare | brownhorseherbal.com | Harper (she/they/we) is an author and visual artist living in Madison. When not loving the color yellow in nature, they can be found in her home studio working with found objects and writing speculative fiction.

J. Sargent Rady | From the Gravel Roads of Mudbrook, an autobiography, is a journey of growing up gay in rural America, including the struggles of self-doubt, understanding who you really are, painful losses, and heavy grief. With triumphs and tragedies throughout, it is an open and honest telling of one man’s path to acceptance.

Kassandra Novell | kassandranovell.com | Kassandra (she/her) is a voiceover artist and audiobook narrator. She has narrated for such Wisconsin authors as Miya Kressin, Huckleberry Rahr, and Hannah Willow. She’s lent her voice to radio plays/musicals and animation.

Joanna Lindblad | joannalindblad.com | With her first self-published poetry book a sliver so slight, Joanna Lindblad is a new author focusing on grief, hope, and the chaos of loss. Joanna currently lives near Madison and enjoys the wonder of nature, the immersion of art, and finding extraordinary moments in living an ordinary life.

Mel Hammond & Teghan Hammond | melhammondbooks.com | We are sisters and co-authors of queer YA literature. Our debut novel, Lucy, Uncensored, was published by Knopf (Penguin/Random House) in October 2024.

mk zariel | mkzariel.carrd.co | mk zariel (it/its + masc terms) is a transmasculine, neuroqueer poet, theater artist, movement journalist, and BashBack aligned anarchist. it is the author of Voidgazing (2026, Whittle Micropress) and Boy Apparition (2025, Vinegar Press).

Rita Mae Reese | ritamaereese.com | Rita Mae Reese (she/her) is the author of The Book of Hulga. She designs Lesbian Poet Trading Cards for Headmistress Press, is in the bluegrass band Coulee Creek, and serves as the Co-Director at Arts + Literature Laboratory in Madison.

Sami Schalk  | samischalk.com | Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at the UW-Madison. She’s the author of Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race & Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction (Duke UP, 2018) and Black Disability Politics (Duke UP, 2022). She identifies as a fat, Black, queer, disabled, femme and a pleasure activist.

Steph Cherrywell | stephcherrywell.com | Nonbinary author of two speculative books for ages 8–12, Unboxing Libby and The Ink Witch. In the past they’ve also written and illustrated graphic novels, written and programmed text adventure games, and created occasional spot illustrations.

Tessa Jade Price | linktr.ee/tessajadeprice | Tessa (she/they) is a multimedia artist and trans woman who writes articles and writes/records acoustic, indie pop, and electronic music under the name T. Price. She does everything from web design to advocacy and direct work with the community.