Avery Irons is the author of the novella Glass Men, which won Big Fiction Magazine's Novella Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in Sinister Wisdom, the African American Review, and Ragazine.CC. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also holds a Juris Doctor from the Columbia University School of Law in New York City. Avery is a Kimbilio Fellow.
Avery was born and (mostly) raised in central Illinois. She currently lives in upstate New York where she writes historical fiction and speculative fiction (and sometimes a mix of the two), while drinking lots of mugs of tea.
Her debut novel, Belonging to the Air, is forthcoming from Screen Door Press on February 3, 2026.
Belonging to the Air
Coming February 3, 2026
Honest "Bird" Bennett is a young, Black girl with a hunger to learn what lies beyond the walls she shares with her mother, Maddy, and her grandmother, Odelia. Their home is governed by the hum of Maddy's sewing machine, echoes of Bird preparing supper, and Odelia's stories of times past. The women live in Bennettsville, Illinois, a freedman's town established by Bird's great-grandfather, where rural life pulses with church song and where peace is fragile with the neighboring white town, Tuckersville. As Bird comes of age, she must reckon with turbulence at home and with what it means to fall in love with a childhood friend. As an adult, rejecting a life of self-denial, Bird spreads her wings and plants roots in Harlem. After a decade of growth and loss, she is summoned back to Bennettsville to confront her family and her past as Tuckersville residents try to drive their Black neighbors from their land.
Pre-order a copy now from your preferred bookseller.
Praise for Belonging to the Air
“Belonging to the Air is an exceptional and unique novel, rich in texture and filled with beauty and emotion. Its profound emotional landscape will resonate with readers for generations to come. It is destined to become a classic."
— Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, editor of the Screen Door Press Imprint
“The historical fiction lesbian and queer women need urgently today. Bird's matriarchal family, rooted in its namesake Illinois town, Bennettsville, provides her the roots for belonging and the wings for air. This multigenerational queer story is vivid and compelling from the very first page.”
— Julie R. Enzer, editor and publisher of Sinister Wisdom
"With her confident prose and surefooted narration, Avery Irons brings us Honest ‘Bird’ Bennett's memorable journey toward independence, love, and acceptance. I savored Bird's every step: her triumphs, her setbacks, her heartbreak; her tenacious determination to survive and find peace despite a world equally determined to deny her identity and her truth. Bird is a revelation, and so is this wonderful novel. Belonging to the Air is an absolute knockout!"
— David Haynes, author of Martha’s Daughter: A Novella and Stories
“Avery Irons's sexy and gripping historical fiction debut unapologetically elevates the strength and brilliance of Black queer women throughout history―women who faced hatred and death to prevail, create community, and ultimately, belong to the air. Irons urges us all to be as brave, true, and full of love and healing as our heroines.”
— R. Erica Doyle, author of proxy, winner of the Poetry Society of America’s 2014 Norma Faber First Book Award
Short(er) Fiction
Glassmen: A Novella, Big Fiction Magazine
”The Late Hour,” Sinister Wisdom
”The Chance,” Ragazine.CC
”Ephraim and Malik,” African American Review