PERHAPS there is no one as romantic, or as wistful, as a poet in old age. Likewise there is nothing that spurs a poet’s ruminations so profoundly as loss. Three new collections explore old age and loss in various ways (one in an almost uncategorizable way), each with varying degrees of effectiveness.
More
Because My Body Is Paper contains undated work, it’s less about [Gil Cuadros’] evolution as a writer than about our experience of his deeply felt concerns: the pleasures and horrors of the body, the link between spirit and nature, the sense of meaning we can derive from carefully tended relationships.
More
AS A POET AGES, he’s often faced with several choices. He can keep doing what he has always done, or he can, by seriously confronting himself, seek another voice. Jason Schneiderman has done the latter brilliantly in his new book, Self Portrait of Icarus as a Country on Fire. He reflects humorously on his life as a poet, often poking fun at himself and his poses. He wrestles with his Jewish heritage by taking on Stalin and the Holocaust, and then delves into the angst of gay divorce.
MoreHERE ARE three recent titles from among an abundance of new poetry from independent publishers. The variety and mastery of these poets’ distinctly different voices are exhilarating: Our tribe of LGBT poets contains many song languages, and we need their full range.
More
Michael Nott’s Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life provides illustrative backstories and perceptive insights into Gunn’s life and work. Nott was a coeditor of The Letters of Thom Gunn (2022) and draws upon that research, along with interviews as well as the artist’s notebooks and diaries, to produce the new biography.
More
Reviews of the books Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film<,em>, Dinner on Monster Island: Essays, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, On Bette Midler: An Opinionated Guide, Imperative to Spare, One Soul We Divided: A Critical Edition of the Diary of Michael Field, and XXX, and the exhibit George Platt Lynes at Work: The Gary Haller Collection
More
A NEW COLLECTION titled The Selected Shepherd is a very welcome arrival that may encourage readers to rediscover an award-winning, fiercely intelligent poet, anthologist, and critic. Gone much too soon at the age of 45, Reginald Shepherd showed in his increasingly stronger collections that he was well on his way to becoming a major force in American poetry.
More
Reviews of Coachella Elegy, The City Aroused, Adam in the Garden, Born this Way Science: Citizenship, and Inequality in the American LGBTQ+ Movement, American Poly: A History, Ambivalent Affinities: A Political History of Blackness & Homosexuality after World War II, and Ambivalent Affinities: A Political History of Blackness & Homosexuality after World War II.
More
Brief reviews of TEN BRIDGES I’VE BURNT: A Memoir in Verse; DEAD IN LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA; MATERIAL WEALTH: Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg; BOUND: Poems; and IN THE SPIDER’S ROOM: A Novel.
More
Interview with poet, Gavin Geoffrey Dillard.
More
