Today we’d like to introduce you to Maxwell Poyser.
Maxwell, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always been in love with literature and language since I was a little kid. While other kids were playing with dolls or racing hot wheels, I was trying to memorize all the new words I could out of the dictionary each day, and so you could say I never really stood a chance of being anything other than a writer (except for maybe a librarian). That being said, it wasn’t until this year that I actually started my sex and relationship blog, The Dating Dispatch and began to produce more work with friends or companies around the world in regards to writing. And while writing wasn’t something I went to school for directly, it is one of my greatest loves, and I am very happy I’ve had and continue to have the opportunity to produce work and content for myself or others, especially at this time.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the hardest things about being a writer is learning how to handle rejection. Which as any new or existing writer will tell you, rejection is (unfortunately) easy to come by in the industry. Nor has being an openly queer, black women in the industry historically always been an easy pill for a number of companies to swallow, and my existence as one has not always made things very easy. Especially given the content that I produce, which is centered more so on sexual liberation, wellness, and collective health and aid getting mainstream spaces on board with my ideas have not been as smooth sailing as it could be if I was creating less charged material or if it was coming from a less politically contested body; although I know the industry is changing, and I have faith in its ability to be more open and inclusive to different narratives as time goes by. In the meantime, there are a lot of individuals much like myself who are willing to foster new creative spaces for individuals to produce work within, which has been really helpful for me and a number of other QTBIPOC.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I wear a lot of hats, but I am primarily a writer and content creator; although my friends like to joke that I am quickly becoming a budding sexpert and internet relationship advice guru, which frankly is very fine by me. At the end of the day, I have always wanted to help people and to advocate for the protection and respect of different marginalized communities around me. And while writing about sex and intimacy might not be the most politically charged act for some, for me it is. The underlying notion of my writing is about access, it’s about redefining the narrative of who gets to be in charge of their sexuality and sexual expression, and it’s about giving humanity and acknowledgment to a number of different people and communities through acknowledging different styles of intimacy and care in all spaces.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One of the things I am most proud of, or most thrilled by, with my writing is when someone messages me online or via email saying how much they liked a piece I wrote. Or how much one of my latest stories made them feel heard or included or understood in the world. I write for myself of course, but I also write because I want people to know that they are not alone in their feelings, and to remind people of all walks of life that they are important enough to be captured in stories and tales because, at the end of the day, I think everyone is important enough to have their story told and I want to help with that.
Contact Info:
- Email: theeimmigrantsdaughter@gmail.com
- Instagram: @theimmigrantsdaughter, @thedatingdispatch
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-she-they-83088216a/
Image Credit:
Images and The Dating Dispatch Graphics by Maxwell Poyser
Zine Art Direction by Natalie Kreidler
Writing by Maxwell Poyser
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