| Title | : | stemmy things |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1643621505 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781643621500 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 144 |
| Publication | : | First published October 11, 2022 |
This flirty collection traces unruly paths of becoming; its sprawling poems build towards an expansive world celebrating fluidity while casting a critical lens on state power, ecological precarity, and the yearning for queer utopia on stolen land. Referencing lineages of poets, musicians, workers and neighbors, as well as conversations between lovers and friends, stemmy things is a vision unraveling, breaking open to make space for glimmering while reckoning with the body’s multiple contexts. Layered, lush, and lavish, these poems offer up tangling, blossoming desire.
stemmy things Reviews
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This is a strong debut collection from imogen xtian smith, a poet and performer living in Brooklyn. The title - stemmy things - is apt, as the collection blends an interest in gardening and cultivation with smith's lived experience as a trans person. The autobiographical pieces are thoughtfully done. So are the other works in this collection, some of which are excellent. My personal favorites were two of the longer pieces, Year of the Rat and true blue uncanny valley. There is more of a consistent voice throughout this collection than often seen in a debut, which would seem to auger well. smith is a poet to keep an eye on.
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this is an excellent collection. the way smith grapples with and connects things like bodies, gender & sexuality, nature, growth, belonging, politics and language & its limits is dexterous, and leaves the reader questioning their own identity & perspective.
i lean more towards 4.5 than a straight 4, but i still think this collection could have been pruned down a bit more.
will definitely need to reread to soak everything in -
fuck. this book.
this perfect, messy, incredibly incredibly queer book. it is a living thing & it is the heart of everything & i have rarely loved poetry as deeply as this. every. single. queer. needs this. -
the poems are often great - especially "year of the rat" and "true blue uncanny valley."
the problem is editorial. the collection is too long for the strongest poems to hold their ground.
the publisher should have given the poet at least 2 collections to let the poems do their full work. -
Extremely embodied poems that feel a little bit like you’re looking at a twitter discourse (not in a bad way)