Punks by John Keene

DESCRIPTION
A landmark collection of poetry by acclaimed fiction writer, translator, and MacArthur Fellow John Keene, PUNKS: NEW & SELECTED POEMS is a generous treasury in seven sections that spans decades and includes previously unpublished and brand new work. With depth and breadth, PUNKS weaves together historic narratives of loss, lust, and love. The many voices that emerge in these poems--from historic Black personalities, both familial and famous, to the poet's friends and lovers in gay bars and bedrooms--form a cast of characters capable of addressing desire, oppression, AIDS, and grief through sorrowful songs that "we sing as hard as we live." At home in countless poetic forms, PUNKS reconfirms John Keene as one of the most important voices in contemporary poetry.

"John Keene's PUNKS is utterly brilliant. The range, vision, depth and humanity he brings to the page are as galactic as Banneker's astral wanderings, as crisp as the chordal cutting of a searching horn, as courageous and small as a nose wide open. Keene's masterfully inventive inquiry of self and history is queered, Blackened, and joyously thick with multitudes of voice and valence. Amen to this exploration!"--Tyehimba Jess

Poetry. African & African American Studies. LGBTQIA Studies.

AUTHOR
John Keene is a writer, translator, professor, and artist who was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2018. In 1989, Keene joined the Dark Room Writers Collective, and is a Graduate Fellow of the Cave Canem Writers Workshops. He is the author of Annotations, and Counternarratives, both published by New Directions, as well as several other works, including the poetry collection Seismosis, with artist Christopher Stackhouse, and a translation of Brazilian author Hilda Hilst's novel Letters from a Seducer. Keene is the recipient of many awards and fellowships--including the Windham-Campbell Prize, the Whiting Foundation Prize, the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and the American Book Award. He teaches at Rutgers University-Newark.

Paperback234 pages
Series:Song Cave
Publisher:The Song Cave
Published:December 1, 2021
Subjects:Poetry
LGBTQ+
American - African American & Black
EAN:9781737277xxx
Physical Dimensions:5.5" x 8.3"
Shipping Weight:0.5 lbs.

A Nation of Dirty Assholes by Brent L. Smith

Description
Nation of Dirty Assholes (Rare)
Esoteric Hollywood and the mythic Old West collide in this motley compilation of haunting poetry and prose. Featuring cameos from several L.A. indie rock darlings, Nation of Dirty Assholes delivers a unique and prescient punch-to-the-face.

Author
Brent L. Smith received his MFA in Writing & Poetics from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. He worked under the tutelage of such writers/artists as: Penny Arcade, Linh Dinh, DJ Spooky, Bhanu Kapil, Lydia Lunch, Thurston Moore, Steven Taylor, and Anne Waldman. He is a contributing writer for Flaunt Magazine and is currently working on the authorized biography for Three Dog Night singer, Cory Wells. His latest novella, Pipe Dreams on Pico, is forthcoming from Far West Press (2021). He resides in his native Los Angeles.

MEDUSA by Natalie Sierra

Medusa Natalie Sierra Published by DSTL arts

"Medusa: All the pretty girls have hair/ like the sun. But not me." In this necessary retelling of the myth of Medusa, author Natalie Sierra seeks to return agency and give justice to the long vilified but misunderstood serpent-haired woman. Set in modern day and in the city of Pomona, this collection will transport you into the heart and mind of Medusa and all she endures. Her ultimate goal: justice for herself, the survivors of violence, and all whose lives were cut short by the hands of their oppressors.

Through the blame lay
on someone else’s shoulder’s,
Medusa was shamed.
Banished for desecrating the temple,
though her body and soul
were ravaged by a madman on parade.

Athena, goddess of wisdom,
yes.
But also, goddess of war.
Ever searching for an enemy to combat.
But only the weaker ones,
of course.

What good is starting a war if you’re going to lose it?

—Natalie Sierra

---

Purchase book here