Justin Phillip Reed

This collection focuses on life as a gay black man in America. I found the second half to be more poignant than the first--but maybe I got used to his style? Reed uses space on the page and word positioning very effectively. I liked this collection, though there were some poems I did not understand.

In the notes, he reveals more about his inspirations for specific poems, as well as other works referenced. I ended up re-reading several of these poems, as the info in the notes helped make more sense of them. In the acknowledgements he reveals that these poems were written while in the grip of depression, which I got from my reading, though I would have doubted my interpretation without his mentioning it.… (more)

From the NBA longlist for poetry - this is a stunning collection dealing with issues of race and sexual orientation and the intersection of the two. These poems are complex and often manage to be both cerebral and visceral. The author is inspired by the killings of unarmed black men and a local case of a black wrestler accused of killing others by deliberately infecting other men with HIV. Societal perceptions of race and sexuality are explored. The author also plays with form - both the physical layout and technical structure.… (more)