BY JOANNA C. VALENTE
In late 2015, my second book came out. The Gods Are Dead is an exploration and retelling of the Tarot journey through the major arcana cards, largely focusing on sexuality and queer identity. At the time, Luna Luna editor-in-chief, Lisa Marie Basile, interviewed me about the collection and how being a Tarot reading influenced my writing here.
While we spoke about the illustrations (as each poem is illustrated by the corresponding Tarot card it reinvents), the illustrations are finally available online. You can view the original Tarot illustrations for the book below, which were created by Ted Chevalier. Chevalier illustrated all 22 of the major arcana cards for the book, and there is a plan for a second book centering on the minor arcana cards to be written and published in the future.
In the meantime, however, I wanted to showcase the amazing illustrations for all Tarot lovers out there. Click the image to enlarge!
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. They are the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014),The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (Operating System, 2017), Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016), and the editor of A Shadow Map: Writing by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is the founder of Yes Poetry and the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine. Some of their writing has appeared in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, BUST, Spork Press, and elsewhere. Joanna also leads workshops at Brooklyn Poets. joannavalente.com / Twitter: @joannasaid / IG: joannacvalente
Ted Chevalier lives in Brooklyn, New York. He currently works as a Senior Multimedia Designer at Sales Graphics, where he manages projects for companies such as A&E Networks, Western Union and Disney. He received his BFA in graphic design at School of Visual Arts, with a minor in motion graphics. He often freelances design and illustration projects, having worked for musicians such as The Slackers and 100dBs.Usually, he can be found eating tacos. More can be found at his website.