{"product_id":"second-nature-9781960145529","title":"Second Nature","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 23rd annual\u003cbr\u003eA. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eChaun Ballard's gripping debut collection weaves childhood experiences, \u003cbr\u003ehistorical events, and family stories into a living tapestry of memory that\u003cbr\u003ecelebrates the landscape of Black America, both rural and urban.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRiddled with the ghostly voices of family and\u003cbr\u003efriends, \u003ci\u003eSecond Nature\u003c\/i\u003e is fearless in\u003cbr\u003eits wrestling with America's fractured past and troubled present. In these\u003cbr\u003epoems, W.E.B. DuBois and Fredrick Douglass have a conversation, Michael Brown\u003cbr\u003emeditates on the nature of the cosmos, Johnnie Taylor's guitar sings in\u003cbr\u003esonnets, and the road Walt Whitman set out upon comes alive for a new\u003cbr\u003egeneration. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough innovative re-imaginings of the\u003cbr\u003esonnet, the pastoral, and the contrapuntal, Ballard engages with popular\u003cbr\u003eculture while examining the intricacies of all that is wedded together--form and\u003cbr\u003econtent, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, husband and wife, \u003cbr\u003eand a nation long dependent on created binaries that serve to maintain\u003cbr\u003estructures of oppression. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInterspersed with quotations and inspired by\u003cbr\u003ethe rich legacy of poets who came before him--including poet Matthew Shenoda\u003cbr\u003ewho provides an insightful Foreword to the collection--\u003ci\u003eSecond Nature\u003c\/i\u003e is\u003cbr\u003ea testament to interconnectedness, a love letter to the deep roots that we come\u003cbr\u003efrom, and a reminder of the myriad ways in which one's identity is shaped by\u003cbr\u003ecommunity and country.---\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eChaun Ballard\u003c\/b\u003e is a doctoral student of poetry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author of the chapbook \u003ci\u003eFlight\u003c\/i\u003e (Tupelo Press), which received\u003cbr\u003ethe 2018 Sunken Garden Poetry Prize. Ballard's\u003cbr\u003epoems have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eAtlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNarrative Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOxford Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePoetry\u003cbr\u003eNorthwest\u003c\/i\u003e, The \u003ci\u003eMissouri Review\u003c\/i\u003e, The\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and other\u003cbr\u003eliterary magazines. Ballard lives in Lincoln, NE.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51179977539858,"sku":"9781960145529","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1be25d8f-9849-4645-a535-e0c28c1b16c9.jpg?v=1745356562","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/second-nature-9781960145529","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}