# Khadijah Queen

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**Khadijah Queen** (born 1975) is an American poet. She is the author of several poetry collections, including *Anodyne* (2020), which won the [William Carlos Williams Award](/source/William_Carlos_Williams_Award), *I'm So Fine: A List of Famous Men & What I Had On* (2017), and the memoir *Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea* (2025).[3][4]

## Early life and education

Queen was born in Wayne, Michigan, in 1975, and grew up primarily in Los Angeles, California.[5] In a 2025 interview with *The Offing*, she said that her mother's family had migrated to Michigan from Alabama in the 1920s after her great-grandfather was lynched.[6]

A *[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews)* review of her memoir *Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea* states that her family later moved back from [LA](/source/Los_Angeles) to Michigan;[7] soon after, Queen joined the [U.S. Navy](/source/U.S._Navy) in 1998 at age 22.[8] She later earned a PhD in English and Literary Arts from the [University of Denver](/source/University_of_Denver).[2]

## Career

Queen is the author of the full-length poetry collections *Conduit* (2008), *Black Peculiar* (2011), *Fearful Beloved* (2015), *I'm So Fine: A List of Famous Men & What I Had On* (2017), and *Anodyne* (2020).[3] Her 2015 book *Non-Sequitur* is a verse play; it won the Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women's Performance Writing in 2014 and was later produced in New York City in 2015.[2]

In *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*, [Hanif Abdurraqib](/source/Hanif_Abdurraqib) called *I'm So Fine* "an investigation of celebrity culture and toxic masculinity that moves at a lyrical sprint".[9]

*Fearful Beloved* was reviewed in *[Kenyon Review](/source/Kenyon_Review)* by Abby Minor, who discussed its themes of violence, healing, and survival.[10]

In 2021, *Anodyne* won the William Carlos Williams Award from the [Poetry Society of America](/source/Poetry_Society_of_America). In a review for *Harvard Review*, Hanna Andrews called the collection "riveting" and described it as concerned with "apocalypse and beauty; suffering and persistence; love and its attendant exhaustion".[4][11]

In 2025, Queen received the Cy Twombly Award for Poetry from the [Foundation for Contemporary Arts](/source/Foundation_for_Contemporary_Arts).[12]

Her memoir *Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea* was published by [Legacy Lit](/source/Hachette_Book_Group) in 2025.[13] Asked in a 2026 interview with *[WKAR](/source/WKAR_(AM))* how her experiences shaped her as a writer, including a [Navy boot-camp](/source/Navy_boot_camp) episode described in the memoir in which she lost her security clearance, Queen connected such experiences to her commitment to speaking openly and telling “authentic stories.”[14]

## Bibliography

### Poetry

- *Conduit* (2008, [Akashic Books](/source/Akashic_Books))[15][16]
- *Black Peculiar* (2011, [Noemi Press](/source/Noemi_Press))[17]
- *Fearful Beloved* (2015, Argos Books)[18]
- *I'm So Fine: A List of Famous Men & What I Had On* (2017, YesYes Books)[19]
- *Anodyne* (2020, [Tin House](/source/Tin_House))[20]

### Plays

- *Non-Sequitur* (2015, Litmus Press)[21][22]

### Memoir

- *Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea* (2025, [Legacy Lit](/source/Hachette_Book_Group))[13][23][7][24]

## References

1. ["Khadijah Queen '06"](https://commonthread.antioch.edu/notes/khadijah-queen-06/). *Antioch University*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Khadijah Queen"](https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/recipients/khadijah-queen/). *Foundation for Contemporary Arts*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Khadijah Queen"](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/khadijah-queen). *Poetry Foundation*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["William Carlos Williams Award – 2021"](https://poetrysociety.org/award-winners/book-awards-for-publishers-2021/william-carlos-williams-award). *Poetry Society of America*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Khadijah Queen"](https://milkweed.org/author/khadijah-queen). *Milkweed Editions*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Jackson, Ashaki M. (September 5, 2025). ["Q&A with Khadijah Queen, author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"](https://theoffingmag.com/interviews/qa-with-khadijah-queen-author-of-between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea/). *The Offing*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/khadijah-queen/between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea-3/). *Kirkus Reviews*. May 30, 2025. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Khadijah Queen"](https://korepress.org/archives/koreauthor/khadijah-queen). *Kore Press Institute*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Abdurraqib, Hanif (November 16, 2017). ["In "I'm So Fine," Khadijah Queen Casts Her Eye on Toxic Masculinity and Celebrity Culture"](https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/im-so-fine-khadijah-queen-toxic-masculinity-celebrity-culture). *The New Yorker*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Minor, Abby. ["“Blind the Way a Dark-Adapted Animal is Blind”: On *Fearful Beloved* by Khadijah Queen"](https://kenyonreview.org/reviews/fearful-beloved-by-khadijah-queen-738439/). *Kenyon Review*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Andrews, Hanna. ["Anodyne"](https://www.harvardreview.org/book-review/anodyne/). *Harvard Review*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Grant Recipients"](https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/recipients/year/2025/). *Foundation for Contemporary Arts*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/khadijah-queen-2/between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea/9781538771150/). *Hachette Book Group*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Begay, Melorie (February 19, 2026). ["From Michigan to the Navy: Author Khadijah Queen's memoir tells story of persistence and identity"](https://www.wkar.org/wkar-news/2026-02-19/between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea-a-veterans-memoir-tells-story-of-survival-and-determination-in-face-of-racism-and-sexism). *WKAR Public Media*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Conduit"](https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/conduit/). *Akashic Books*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Dixon, Athena. ["Review–Conduit: Poems by Khadijah Queen"](https://mosaicmagazine.org/review-conduit-poems-by-khadijah-queen/). *Mosaic Magazine*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Black Peculiar"](https://www.noemipress.org/catalog/poetry/black-peculiar/). *Noemi Press*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Fearful Beloved"](https://argosbooks.org/?p=1933). *Argos Books*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["I'm So Fine: A List of Famous Men & What I Had On"](https://www.yesyesbooks.com/product-page/i-m-so-fine-a-list-of-famous-men-what-i-had-on). *YesYes Books*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Anodyne"](https://tinhouse.com/book/anodyne/). *Tin House*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Non-Sequitur"](https://litmuspress.org/product/non-sequitur/). *Litmus Press*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Puro, Nina. ["Culture Shifts & Switches in Khadijah Queen’s New Play, *Non-Sequitur*"](https://weird-sister.com/2015/12/18/5182/). *Weird Sister*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. ["Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Veteran’s Memoir"](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781538771150). *Publishers Weekly*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

1. Schlichenmeyer, Terri (August 13, 2025). ["BOOK REVIEW: ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Veteran’s Memoir’ by Khadijah Queen"](https://www.washingtoninformer.com/khadijah-queen-memoir-navy/). *The Washington Informer*. Retrieved March 11, 2026.

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