hiku [pull]
by James A. H. White
James A. H. White’s work feels at once breathless and intense, reaching to capture vivid blooms of a life-history in poems grown so intricately together that they’re tangled, almost inseparable. It is the story of mother and father, of identity and travel and seeking and ghosts both behind and before. This is a tessellation of light, color, memory and story, a gay son fitting the pieces of self together and offering it up in poems. Each poem feels like a secret, each leaves you wanting more. (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
24 pages
inkjet cover
open edition
Additional Info
EXCERPT
Nagai Kotoba
[“Long Words”]
he stands at the back door and looks out over the yard the shed the city below us confessing to me how he didn’t believe he could forgive himself for the decisions he has made
for how he felt his temperament abhorrent his actions unforgivable before returning to the table to pull more tiles from the velvet bag and play a word on the Scrabble board I’ve never heard of
.
“you can challenge me if you want” but I’m never sure with him the last thing he told me was that it’s unlucky to curl under flowers I don’t know the names of
ABOUT THE POET
James A.H. White earned his M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry from Florida Atlantic University. A winner of the 2014 AWP Intro Journals Project award in Poetry, his writing appears in Colorado Review, Gertrude, Hermeneutic Chaos, Cha, and DIAGRAM, among others. Born in Surrey, England, James currently resides in South Florida, where he teaches creative writing and serves as an editor for 3Elements Review.
COVER & ART
“Jasmin on Red” (acrylic on paper, 9x12 inches) is a painting custom made for the chapbook. IG: @wickedlittleheart.
NOMINATIONS
nominated for the Elgin Award in 2018
2017 Elgin Award Nomination
“Okaasan [Mother]” nominated for Bettering American Poetry 2016
“Sawaruna [“Do Not Touch”]” nominated for a Pushcart in 2016
“Transmigration” was nominated for a Pushcart in 2015
REVIEWS
reviewed by Kimberly Ann Southwick at Ploughshares blog