Why I Was Late fuses text with performance, brings a transmasculine wisdom, humour, and experience to bear upon tailgates, spaceships, and wrestling rings. Fierce, tender, convention re-inventing--Petch works hard. And whether it's as a film union lighting technician, a hospital bed allocator, a Toronto hot dog vendor, or a performer/player of the musical saw, the work is survival. Heroes are found in unexpected places, elevated by both large and small gestures of kindness, accountability and acceptance. No subject--grief, disability, kink, sexuality, gender politics, violence--is off limits.

A poet so good at drag they had everyone convinced that they were a woman for the first forty years of their life, Petch has somehow brought the stage and its attendant thrills into the book. Better late than. And better. (From Brick Books)

Charlie Petch is a musician, spoken word artist and playwright based in Toronto. He was the 2017 poet of honour for Spoken Word Canada and the founder of Hot Damn It's a Queer Slam. Petch's poem Hey You Lucy Liu was longlisted for the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize. Why I Was Late won a 2022 ReLit Award in the poetry category.