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charlie claire burgess
Charlie (they/them) is a queer and trans-nonbinary author and artist working at the intersection of spirituality and queerness. They are the author of Queer Devotion (Hay House 2025) and Radical Tarot (Hay House 2023) and the creator of the Fifth Spirit Tarot (indie 2020, Hay House 2022) and Gay Marseille Tarot (indie, 2024) decks. Their nonfiction writing has appeared in the Lambda Literary Review, F(r)iction Magazine, The Rebis, and the Tarot in Other Words anthology, and their short fiction has earned a Pushcart Prize Special Mention and notable mentions in two Best American anthologies. They're currently at work on an oracle deck and a queer horror novel. Charlie is represented by Kelly Van Sant of kt literary.
Charlie is also the erstwhile host of The Word Witch Podcast and teaches classes on tarot and queer devotion online. In addition to their witchy work, Charlie writes creative nonfiction and fiction and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Vanderbilt University. Born and raised in the Deep South, Charlie has made their home in Portland, Oregon, with their spouse and a one-eyed pug named Apollo.
The best places to connect with Charlie are on Instagram @the.word.witch, BlueSky, signing up for their newsletter, or subscribing to their Substack, Queerly Devoted.
SELECTED WRITING
Non-Fiction
​"Letters from Between: On Tarot, Grief, and the Queer Heart," The Lambda Literary Review, 2024​
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"Fools and Believers," F(r)iction, Arcana issue, 2023
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"Eight of Quills," The Literary Tarot, Brink Literacy Project, 2023
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"Remember Us With Your Imagination," 2022
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Fiction
"Ghost Story," Joyland
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"Upper Middle Class Houses," Third Coast -- Pushcart Prize Special Mention 2014
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"Last Dog," Hunger Mountain -- Notable mention in Best American Short Stories 2012 and Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012
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"Male Seeking Female," Annalemma
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"Salt" and "Clean," PANK
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Anthology
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"A Secret Third Thing: Court Cards as Queer Elements" in Tarot in Other Words, ed. Cassandra Snow, Weiser Books 2025.
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New Stories from the Midwest, 2016: "Upper Middle Class Houses," originally published in Third Coast
PRESS & Interviews
"Queerly Devoted: Charlie Claire Burgess in Conversation with Jeanna Kadlec," Astrology for Writers on Substack
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Ink Slinger's Spotlight on Theresa Reed's Metaphysical Writer's Confidential
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"In one word, my spirituality is queer," Interview on Radical Soul Substack
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Radical Tarot Book Club series on the In Search of Tarot podcast: Part 1, Part 2, Author Interview.
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"Fifth Spirit Tarot," deck review on the Wildly Tarot Podcast
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"Kickstarter's Season of the Witch," by Rebecca Hiscott, Kickstarter.com
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"Why Queer People Love Witchcraft," by Amanda Kohr, Refinery29
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YouTube
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"Conversation with Charlie Burgess," Group Tarot with Kate Mura, April 2025
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Tarot Adventures with Jules, Deck Creator Chat: Radical Tarot and The Gay Marseille, July 2023
Tarot Adventures with Jules, Deck Creator Chat: Fifth Spirit Tarot, November 2021
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Podcasts
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Modern Witches Podcast, "Charlie Claire Burgess: Dismantling Tarot's Binary Code," February 2025.
Becoming Power, "Externalizing Intuition: Using Tarot to Come Back to Yourself," September 2024.
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A Tiny Revolution, "Queering the Mystical with Charlie Claire Burgess," November 2023.
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Myth Tarot Love, "Radical Tarot with Charlie Claire Burgess," November 2023.
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Witch Church, "Exploring Your Queerness Through a Radical Tarot with Charlie Claire Burgess," October 2023.
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Cosmic Cousins, A Conversation with "Radical Tarot" Author Charlie Claire Burgess
July 2023.
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In Search of Tarot, Live from the 2021 Searcher's Solstice Tarot Conference, A Panel Discussion on Expanding Sex, Sexuality, and Gender in the Tarot with Cassandra Snow, Charlie Claire Burgess, and Nick Kepley
June 2021
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Wellness Community Magic Podcast, The Messy In-Between with Charlie Claire Burgess
April 2021
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Cosmic Cousins, Aquarius New Moon: Conversation with Fifth Spirit Tarot Deck Creator Charlie Claire Burgess
February 2021
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In Search of Tarot, Gender in Tarot with Charlie Claire Burgess
December 2020
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We Are Our Own Lovers, Where Kelsey and Claire Emphatically Agree about the Power of Self-Acceptance
May 2020
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The Arnemancy Podcast, Tarot Beyond Binaries with The Word Witch
April 2020
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Rise Up! Good Witch, Tarot Storytelling with Claire Burgess, Diana Rose, and Sarah Gottessdiener
September 2019
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Blind Love Radio, Creating from the Void with Claire Burgess
July 2019
WANT ME ON YOUR POD OR CHANNEL?
I'd love to, thanks for asking! I'm eager to talk about my work and/or topics including:
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Queering the tarot
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Using tarot for liberation and creating the future
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Creating tarot decks
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Queer devotion / spirituality / witchcraft
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Queer and trans divinity
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Finding my way to a fulfilling magical and spiritual practice after being raised in the Southern protestant church and a decade of atheism
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Being a queer and trans nonbinary person in the world today