{"product_id":"our-hands-hold-violence-poems-9780807021255","title":"Our Hands Hold Violence: Poems","description":"\u003cb\u003eA NATIONAL POETRY SERIES WINNER SELECTED AND WITH A FOREWORD BY BRENDA HILLMAN \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A collection of poems that explores rural Missouri, violence, queer desire \/ intimacy, addiction, familial and wildlife relationships \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough encounters with the everyday beauty and brutality so much a part of rural and urban Missouri, \u003ci\u003eOur Hands Hold Violence\u003c\/i\u003e explores what it means to experience and\/or perpetuate small and significant acts of violence, toward others and the self. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat does it mean to hunt (be hunted), haunt (be haunted), and other (be othered)? Abiding by a chronological arc told in four movements (\u003ci\u003eHERE\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTHERE\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTOGETHER\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eALONE\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003ci\u003eOHHV \u003c\/i\u003efollows the speaker(s) as they come up in the Show Me State and come to terms with queerness, mental disability, addiction, and loneliness in the largely Christian, conservative, and hyper-masculine landscape. Other themes \/ aspects of note include familial dynamics, estrangement, labor, neglected and decaying natures, waste, and the confluence of wildlife and mankind. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eComprised of traditional forms and modes such as the abecedarian, ekphrasis, sestina, and more hybrid configurations (billboards, bullet points, McDonald's Monopoly stickers), as well as photographs, \u003ci\u003eOHHV\u003c\/i\u003e is interested, too, in changing\/challenging structure and expectations. Thus, enacting a visual and figurative \"violence\" upon the page. Additionally, two poems are contained in a nonce (invented) form called \"Shakes,\" where strophes traverse between left and right points, while the middle column is constructed or cataloged by similar sounds--a form inspired by the author's own reality of stimming (i.e. pacing) and echolalia. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eOHHV\u003c\/i\u003e indulges in alliteration, assonance, repetition, and a colloquial registry of language. The voice(s) in the poems can range from anxious, reflective (nostalgic), sensual, and tender, but all are compelled by and circle the manuscript's themes, which become obsessions. Hauntings. Ultimately, \u003ci\u003eOHHV\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection troubled by the desire to belong to\/in a place and to beloveds that have \"been home\" while, in ways, \"feeling like an outsider\" at home and within one's local community.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eKieron Walquist\u003c\/b\u003e [he\/they] is a queer neurospicy poet + visual artist from mid-Missouri. Their work appears in \u003ci\u003eBest New Poets\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Gulf Coast\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eIHLR\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Missouri Review\u003c\/i\u003e, Pleiades, \u003ci\u003e Poet Lore\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThird Coast\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWaxwing\u003c\/i\u003e, + elsewhere. Their chapbook, \u003ci\u003eLove Locks\u003c\/i\u003e, was selected by Luther Hughes for the 2022 Quarterly West Chapbook Contest. He holds a BA from Lincoln University of Missouri, an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, Monson Arts, and Vermont Studio Center. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Utah and lives in Salt Lake City.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51649001488658,"sku":"9780807021255","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_18df6933-f3e7-4a70-bb8c-a88c1e4c2f5c.jpg?v=1759841861","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/our-hands-hold-violence-poems-9780807021255","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}