Scan barcode
A review by crookedtreehouse
Simulacra by Carl Phillips, Airea D. Matthews
5.0
I took February off from reading poetry. I still heard it every Wednesday for a few hours, but I didn't sit down and read it.
Partly, it's style fatigue. Every manuscript I've seen has been a poet who learned A Trick to write a poem. Usually, a good one. But all of their poems were laid out the same way, or were written on the same theme, or they're all erasures, or they're all crowns of sonnets.
Airea D. Matthews's book is not like any of the books or manuscripts I've read recently.
Thank Yale.
This book goes everywhere, and yet feels really focused.
Some poems take a few pages to tell their stories, some are over in four lines because that's all the poem needs. There are letters, fugues, texts from dead literary figures, Greek hunters Twitter feeds, an opera script. All of it speaks to want, without feeling like the author is harping on a theme.
Were I teaching a course on poetry, this would be one of the books I taught from in the first semester, along with [a:Natalie Díaz|5354524|Natalie Díaz|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1337400627p2/5354524.jpg]'s [b:When My Brother Was an Aztec|13124956|When My Brother Was an Aztec|Natalie Díaz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328758134s/13124956.jpg|18300753], [a:Safia Elhillo|6870010|Safia Elhillo|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s [b:The January Children|32141014|The January Children|Safia Elhillo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481014480s/32141014.jpg|51415222], [a:Patricia Smith|161335|Patricia Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1424030155p2/161335.jpg]'s [b:Blood Dazzler|3348584|Blood Dazzler|Patricia Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1354209745s/3348584.jpg|3386986], [a:Martín Espada|33610|Martín Espada|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1213130372p2/33610.jpg]'s [b:Imagine the Angels of Bread: Poems|271453|Imagine the Angels of Bread Poems|Martín Espada|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348598001s/271453.jpg|263169], [a:Ocean Vuong|4456871|Ocean Vuong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1500045174p2/4456871.jpg]'s [b:Night Sky with Exit Wounds|30006333|Night Sky with Exit Wounds|Ocean Vuong|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478024072s/30006333.jpg|43452251], [a:Daphne Gottlieb|93849|Daphne Gottlieb|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1319499833p2/93849.jpg]'s [b:15 Ways to Stay Alive|11172695|15 Ways to Stay Alive|Daphne Gottlieb|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356347801s/11172695.jpg|15826630], and [a:Grzegorz Wroblewski|7014897|Grzegorz Wroblewski|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s [b:Kopenhaga|17675092|Kopenhaga|Grzegorz Wroblewski|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1364864779s/17675092.jpg|24678827].
I wold recommend this to anyone who was turned off from poetry by professors who jerked off to dead white poets, people who come to poetry through spoken word and are wondering where to go next, people who like poetry that's challenging but not poetry that means you have to have a degree in loneliness to figure out what the fuck the writer is talking about, and really anyone who just likes good writing.
Partly, it's style fatigue. Every manuscript I've seen has been a poet who learned A Trick to write a poem. Usually, a good one. But all of their poems were laid out the same way, or were written on the same theme, or they're all erasures, or they're all crowns of sonnets.
Airea D. Matthews's book is not like any of the books or manuscripts I've read recently.
Thank Yale.
This book goes everywhere, and yet feels really focused.
Some poems take a few pages to tell their stories, some are over in four lines because that's all the poem needs. There are letters, fugues, texts from dead literary figures, Greek hunters Twitter feeds, an opera script. All of it speaks to want, without feeling like the author is harping on a theme.
Were I teaching a course on poetry, this would be one of the books I taught from in the first semester, along with [a:Natalie Díaz|5354524|Natalie Díaz|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1337400627p2/5354524.jpg]'s [b:When My Brother Was an Aztec|13124956|When My Brother Was an Aztec|Natalie Díaz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328758134s/13124956.jpg|18300753], [a:Safia Elhillo|6870010|Safia Elhillo|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s [b:The January Children|32141014|The January Children|Safia Elhillo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481014480s/32141014.jpg|51415222], [a:Patricia Smith|161335|Patricia Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1424030155p2/161335.jpg]'s [b:Blood Dazzler|3348584|Blood Dazzler|Patricia Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1354209745s/3348584.jpg|3386986], [a:Martín Espada|33610|Martín Espada|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1213130372p2/33610.jpg]'s [b:Imagine the Angels of Bread: Poems|271453|Imagine the Angels of Bread Poems|Martín Espada|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348598001s/271453.jpg|263169], [a:Ocean Vuong|4456871|Ocean Vuong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1500045174p2/4456871.jpg]'s [b:Night Sky with Exit Wounds|30006333|Night Sky with Exit Wounds|Ocean Vuong|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478024072s/30006333.jpg|43452251], [a:Daphne Gottlieb|93849|Daphne Gottlieb|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1319499833p2/93849.jpg]'s [b:15 Ways to Stay Alive|11172695|15 Ways to Stay Alive|Daphne Gottlieb|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356347801s/11172695.jpg|15826630], and [a:Grzegorz Wroblewski|7014897|Grzegorz Wroblewski|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s [b:Kopenhaga|17675092|Kopenhaga|Grzegorz Wroblewski|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1364864779s/17675092.jpg|24678827].
I wold recommend this to anyone who was turned off from poetry by professors who jerked off to dead white poets, people who come to poetry through spoken word and are wondering where to go next, people who like poetry that's challenging but not poetry that means you have to have a degree in loneliness to figure out what the fuck the writer is talking about, and really anyone who just likes good writing.