It Begins With The Body by Hana Shafi explores the milestones and hurdles of a brown girl coming into her own. Shafi’s poems display a raw and frank intimacy and address anxiety, unemployment, heartbreak, relationships, identity, and faith. Juno Award nominated musician and songwriter Alysha Brilla calls It Begins With The Body “the anthem of […]
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The Excavation of Memory: In Conversation with Kim Trainor
Ledi, the newly released book by Vancouver poet Kim Trainor, describes the excavation of an Iron Age Pazyryk woman from her ice-bound grave in the steppes of Siberia. Along with the woman’s carefully preserved body, with its blue tattoos of leopards and griffins, grave goods were also discovered—rosehips and wild garlic, translucent vessels carved from […]
Continue readingTextured Sonically: In Conversation with Mark Truscott
Careful attention reveals that, even in moments that seem insignificant, our minds are constantly navigating disjunctions among registers of experience. Our intellect silently reminds our eyes that the car that appears to be moving between leaves is actually behind them and much larger. The sound of the vacuum cleaner in the next room is noise […]
Continue readingFeature Friday: Holy Wild by Gwen Benaway
In this week’s edition of Feature Friday, we are pleased to bring you an excerpt from Gwen Benaway’s third collection of poetry, Holy Wild. A confessional poet, Benaway narrates her sexual and romantic intimacies with partners as well as her work to navigate the daily burden of transphobia and violence. She examines the intersections of […]
Continue readingFeature Friday: It Begins With The Body by Hana Shafi
In this week’s edition of Feature Friday, we are excited to bring you an except from Hana Shafi’s debut book, It Begins With The Body, a collection that explores the milestones and hurdles of a brown girl coming into her own. Hana’s poems display a raw and frank intimacy and address anxiety, unemployment, heartbreak, relationships, identity, […]
Continue readingFeature Friday: Honestly By Steven Zultanski
For this week’s edition of Feature Friday, we are pleased to bring you an excerpt from Steven Zultanski’s latest book, Honestly, the third title in a trilogy that explores the limits of individual expression. It begins with research into a forgotten relative, and from there the poem swerves into a series of minor-key personal anecdotes, […]
Continue readingOld Mercury Eyes: An Exquisite Corpse Poem
Hi, everyone – Mary Ann, here! My time time with Book*hug will soon come to a close (cue emotional, Hans Zimmer soundtrack), but before I go, and for one big Blog-style “hurrah”, I have orchestrated an infinitely chaotic and unpredictable game of “The Exquisite Corpse” with a group of Book*hug authors. To summarize, The Exquisite […]
Continue readingFeature Friday: This Will Be Good by Mallory Tater
In this week’s edition of Feature Friday, we’re pleased to bring you an excerpt from Mallory Tater’s debut poetry collection, This Will Be Good, which tells the story of a young woman’s burgeoning femininity as it brushes up against an emerging eating disorder. As the difficulties of her disease reveal themselves, they ultimately disrupt family […]
Continue readingFeature Friday: Kith by Divya Victor
Either as a way of knowing or being known; either by the way a “we” exists or does not when we are not home; either as targets or by treason; either as a question of resemblance or in answer to a name: kith. For this week’s edition of Feature Friday, we’re pleased to bring […]
Continue readingBuilding Frameworks: In Conversation with Steven Zultanski
Steven Zultanski’s latest book, Honestly, is the third title in a trilogy (and also his third publication with Book*hug) that explores the limits of individual expression. It begins with research into a forgotten relative who was kicked out of the author’s family after he was jailed for conscientious objection to WWII, and who then moved […]
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