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Ask the Brindled

Poems
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Ask the Brindled, winner of the 2021 National Poetry Series, explores the fractured spaces between the beginnings and peaks of life—body, people, language. No'u Revilla weaves an intergenerational reclamation of Indigenous and queer Hawaiian narratives, blending the history of the Hawaiian Kingdom with contemporary queer experiences. Using evocative language rooted in iwi culture and mythos, this debut poetry collection confronts colonial histories while asserting sovereignty in linguistic, erotic and civic forms.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$4600

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in poetry, Indigenous narratives, queer voices and decolonial literature. Suitable for those who appreciate lyric poetry that intertwines history, culture and personal identity.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

"Ask the Brindled, selected by Rick Barot as a winner of the 2021 National Poetry Series, bares everything that breaks between "seed" and "summit" of a life-the body, a people, their language. It is an intergenerational reclamation of the narratives foisted upon Indigenous and queer Hawaiians-and it does not let readers look away"--

  • Major galley campaign, with galleys available for sales force by request, major media, poetry media, queer-led media, regional (Hawaii) media, booksellers and librarians; digital galleys available for download on Edelweiss
  • Major media outreach, positioning this title as an exciting 2022 poetry release from a rising star, for readers of Morgan Parks and Pulitzer Prize finalist Jake Skeets
  • Bookseller campaign, with a focus on Hawaii and queer- and feminist-led bookstores, as well as stores in New York, Washington, Oregon and California
  • Cover reveal and preorder social media campaign in collaboration with Native Books in Honolulu
  • Book trailer produced by the publisher featuring author performing a poem from the book to be shared in a social media campaign and uploaded to Edelweiss
  • Newsletter promotion via the publisher to readers, sales and academic lists of more than 30K contacts; special push to academic market for course adoption
  • Advertising in Academy of American Poets and Poets & Writers
  • Major launch event featuring multimedia, the book trailer, and major readers in Hawaii, with virtual touring in Minneapolis, New York, and Los Angeles

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Ask the Brindled, selected by Rick Barot as a winner of the 2021 National Poetry Series, bares everything that breaks between "seed" and "summit" of a life—the body, a people, their language. It is an intergenerational reclamation of the narratives foisted upon Indigenous and queer Hawaiians—and it does not let readers look away.

In this debut collection, No'u Revilla crafts a lyric landscape brimming with shed skin, water, mo'o, ma'i. She grips language like a fistful of wet guts and inks the page red—for desire, for love, for generations of blood spilled by colonisers. She hides knives in her hair "the way my grandmother—not god—the way my grandmother intended," and we heed; before her, "we stunned insects dangle." Wedding the history of the Kingdom of Hawaii with contemporary experiences of queer love and queer grief, Revilla writes toward sovereignty: linguistic, erotic, civic. Through the medium of formal dynamism and the material of iwi culture and mythos, this living decolonial text both condemns and creates.

Ask the Brindled is a song from the shattered throat that refuses to be silenced. It is a testament to queer Indigenous women who carry baskets of names and stories, "still sacred." It is a vow to those yet to come: "the ea of enough is our daughters / our daughters need to believe they are enough."

Series: National Poetry Series

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  • Ask the Brindled
    Ask the Brindled, selected by Rick Barot as a winner of the 2021 National Poetry Series, bares everything that breaks between "seed" and "summit" of a life—the body, a people, their language. It is an intergenerational reclamation of the narratives foisted upon Indigenous and queer Hawaiians—and it does not let readers look away. In this debut collection, No'u Revilla crafts...
    Paperback
    $4600
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Publishers Weekly highlights this debut as a reclamation of Indigenous and queer Hawaiian identity challenging colonial narratives. Book Riot praises its beautiful, unflinching language that honours queer and Native Hawaiian women’s unique stories. Poets & Writers commends Revilla's dynamic and evocative use of language that evokes natural imagery and cultural depth.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781639550005

Publisher: Milkweed Editions

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 22 September 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: Milkweed Editions

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 6.0mm

Width: 139.0mm

Height: 215.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 88

About the Author

Noʻu Revilla is the author of Ask the Brindled. She is an ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) queer poet and educator. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in Poetry, Literary Hub, ANMLY, Beloit, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Library of Congress. Her latest chapbook, Permission to Make Digging Sounds, was published in Effigies III in 2019, and she has performed throughout Hawaiʻi as well as Canada, Papua New Guinea, and the United Nations. She is an assistant professor at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa, where she teaches creative writing with an emphasis on ʻŌiwi literature, spoken word, and decolonial poetics. Born and raised in Waiʻehu on the island of Maui, she currently lives and loves in the valley of Pālolo on the island of Oʻahu.

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