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Transitory

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( 31 ratings, 8 reviews)
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
Transitory by Subhaga Crystal Bacon is a poignant collection of elegies memorialising 46 transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals murdered in the US and Puerto Rico in 2020. Combining epistolary forms with personal reflections, these poems navigate themes of identity, solidarity, and the ongoing struggle for safety and freedom in a hostile world. The work also offers a powerful lens on gender, sexuality, and privilege through the eyes of a Queer elder.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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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?

This collection will resonate with readers interested in contemporary poetry, LGBTQ+ issues, and social justice. It offers profound insights for those reflecting on identity, violence, and resilience within transgender and Queer communities.

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"Grounded in protest and solidarity, Subhaga Crystal Bacon's Isabella Garder Award-winning Transitory is a collection of elegies memorializing 46 transgender and gender-nonconforming people murdered in the US and Puerto Rico in 2020"--

  • Excerpts in various journals including Rise Up Review, Queer Southeast Asia: A Journal of Transgressive Art, QT/Queer Toronto Literary Magazine, The Indianapolis Review, and River Heron Review
  • National Advertising: Academy of American Poets Newsletter; Fall book announcements submitted to Publishers Weekly. 
  • eBook will be available on the publication date. eBook ISBN will be included on all press materials and on BOA’s website. BOA and author will promote eBook on social media. 
  • Buy-ins to relevant academic conferences, trade shows, and relevant publications. Currently considering: American Library Association Annual Meeting, CBSD Sales and Academic catalogs, etc. 
  • Online/social media campaign: Extensive promotion through BOA’s website, blog, e-newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Giveaway and takeover planned through BOA’s Instagram. Promotion through author’s website (https://subhagacrystalbacon.com/) and Twitter (@SubhagaCrystal).

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

Grounded in protest and solidarity, Subhaga Crystal Bacon's Isabella Gardner Award-winning Transitory is a collection of elegies memorialising 46 transgender and gender-nonconforming people murdered in the US and Puerto Rico in 2020.

Epistolary in nature, these commemorative poems are "gleaned sketches" attempting to reconstruct lives and deaths from the typically scarce information made available on the internet. Interspersed with the elegies are personal explorations of gender identities and sexualities from a Queer elder who has lived through the post-Stonewall years of sexual liberation, the second wave of feminism, and the recent rapid increases in awareness about gender and sexualities met almost equally with anti-trans and anti-Queer violence.

Seen through the lenses of whiteness and privilege from the last quarter of a lifetime, these poems navigate the desire to be at home in our bodies, to be loved and desired without danger, and most of all to live free, healthy, and welcome in the world we inhabit.

Series: American Poets Continuum Series

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  • Transitory
    Grounded in protest and solidarity, Subhaga Crystal Bacon's Isabella Gardner Award-winning Transitory is a collection of elegies memorialising 46 transgender and gender-nonconforming people murdered in the US and Puerto Rico in 2020. Epistolary in nature, these commemorative poems are "gleaned sketches" attempting to reconstruct lives and deaths from the typically scarce information made available on the internet. Interspersed with the...
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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?

Praised by Diane Seuss, author of frank: sonnets, Transitory is recognised for its lyric intensity and documentary poetics. The poems incorporate public records and intimate details, creating dignified, elegant tributes that invite deep empathy. Seuss highlights how the collection compels readers to engage beyond the text, urging them to confront the harsh realities behind the losses it honours.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781950774968

Publisher: BOA Editions, Limited

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 December 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: BOA Editions, Limited

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 228.0mm

Height: 152.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 104

About the Author

Subhaga Crystal Bacon is the author of two previous collections of poetry, Elegy with a Glass of Whiskey, BOA 2004, and Blue Hunger, Methow Press, 2020. She was a nominee for the 2021-23 Washington State Poet Laureateship and was nominated for both Pushcart and Best of the Web prizes in 2021. A Queer elder, she is a teacher of embodied awakening and poetry and the places where they intersect. Subhaga's work touches on the liminal spaces between personal identity- gender, sexuality, aging, loss, and ways of being- and contemplation of the natural world. She lives with her partner, Sugandhi Katharine Barnes, a painter, and their Labradoodle, Lola, in the expansive Twisp River valley on the eastern slopes of the North Cascade mountains in Twisp, WA.

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