"With her confident prose and surefooted narration, Avery Irons brings us Honest "Bird" Bennet'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

"In Avery Iron's sexy and gripping historical fiction debut, the sundown towns, racial terrorism, and queer speakeasies of the early 20th century are gathered into the prophetic net of a line of women who ultimately refuse to be silenced by the brutal arc of history. The fortified spine at the center of this book are the women of 'spirit and light' and the mission bequeathed them by their ancestors — as lovers, mothers, daughters, sisters and friends, they will survive or die. I've never been to Bird Bennett's rural Illinois, urban East St. Louis or Harlem Renaissance New York City, but she and her circle will stay with me long after the scenes of the dramatic climax have faded. This novel unapologetically elevates the strength and brilliance of Black Queer women throughout history who faced hatred and death to prevail, create community, and ultimately, belong to the air. Irons urges us all to be as brave, as true, and as full of love and healing as our heroines."—R. Erica Doyle, author of proxy, winner of the Poetry Society of America's 2014 Norma Farber First Book Award

"Belonging to the Air, Avery Irons's debut novel, is the historical fiction lesbian and queer women readers need urgently today. Bird's matriarchal family, rooted in its namesake Illinois town, Bennettville, provides her the roots for belonging and the wings for air. This multi-generational queer story is vivid and compelling from the very first page."—Julie R. Enszer, editor and publisher of Sinister Wisdom

Avery Irons was born and raised in central Illinois. She is the author of the novella Glass Men, which won Big Fiction magazine's Novella Prize, and short fiction that has appeared in the African American Review, Ragazine, and Sinister Wisdom. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and received support for the completion of Belonging to the Air through the Kimbilio Novel Mentorship Program.