They Will Keep on Speaking Her Name - Liner Notes

Welcome to thepoetmiranda's memoir mixtape

And she will always carry on
Something is lost
But something is found
They will keep on speaking her name
Some things change
Some stay the same
-”Hymn to Her” by The Pretenders

Miranda reads poems to a live audience for the first time as herself, as drawn by an audience member at a queer open mic in February 2025:

They Will Keep on Speaking Her Name - My Transition Mixtape

Hi, I’m Miranda. I’m a trans woman and a poet. I’m also a wife and a mother. My stylist calls me a curly girly. My kids call me Mum or Mumther. I’m also someone who has been making mixtapes for decades, so of course I made one when my egg cracked—I came to the full realization that I am a transgender person.

I want to write something like a memoir. My transition mixtape, currently on Spotify (please recommend more ethical music options in the comments), has about 200 songs that in some way connect to my transition, or trans identity, or my identity as a woman, or euphoria, or dysphoria, or… It’s called They Will Keep on Speaking Her Name.

This memoir will use my mixtape as a way to tell you about my life as a trans woman.

Each entry in the series will use a song title from the playlist. Sometimes I'll talk about the song in the post; sometimes I won’t. Sometimes I’ll tell you about a formative memory the song evokes. Sometimes I’ll write something topical about being a trans woman.

This is my experimental album of self. I don’t know where this project will take me. I’m in the studio working it out.

Memoir as Listening Party

My goal is to release a new single at least once a week. Each single will have an A Side and a B Side, yes, like a music single. There are currently about 200 songs on the list, but I’m doing a full close listen to pull out any songs that shouldn’t really be there.

I’m thinking that this part of my site is where the paywall will live. I plan to release most singles as free content, but some stories that go a little deeper in my psyche might need that barrier. If you wanna know me that well, it’ll cost you a few bucks a month, at least. A woman needs to make a living. In addition to subscriptions, I have ko-fi.com/thepoetmiranda for donations.

I appreciate you joining my listening party.

💜Miranda📚