KAYA ORTIZ

Winner of the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award

Winner of the Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green Smith Prize for Poetry (WA Premier's Book Awards 2026)

Commended for the Five Islands Prize for a first book of poetry 2025 

Shortlisted for the 2026 NSW Literary Award 

Time. Memory. Mirror. Past & Parallel Lives is a rippling reflection on being alien, queer, and other. These poems yearn for home and belonging after migration, religion, and coming out. Kaya Ortiz’s award-winning debut shines with authenticity – this is a courageous departure from a past life, towards a queer future and a poetic return to self.

"A gentle and powerful urge to believe in a world where becoming is just as beautiful as arriving." Madison Godfrey

"Brimming with incantatory power, Past & Parallel Lives is a luminous contribution to queer Filipino poetics." Eunice Andrada

"This collection is a marvel, a miracle. By leaning into the past, Ortiz propels us into a future radiant with queer joy. This book is essential and a must-read." Scott-Patrick Mitchell

Book details

ISBN: 978-1-76080-298-1

PUBLISHED: 8 March 2025

CATEGORY: Poetry

AUTHOR: Kaya Ortiz

PRICE: $24.99 (incl GST)

RIGHTS: World