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Queers Like Me
Confessional and immersive, Michael V. Smith’s latest collection is a broad tapestry that explores growing up queer and working class, then growing into an urban queer life.
In these poems, we are immersed in the world of a young Smith as he shares the awkward dinners, the funerals, and the uncertainty of navigating fraught dynamics, bringing us into these most intimate moments of family life while outrunning deep grief. Smith moves from first home to first queer teenage crushes, video cameras, post-club hookups, fears and terrors, closeted lovers, and daydreams of confronting your childhood bully.
Queers Like Me is an enveloping book— a meditation on family complexity and a celebration of personal insight.
In these poems, we are immersed in the world of a young Smith as he shares the awkward dinners, the funerals, and the uncertainty of navigating fraught dynamics, bringing us into these most intimate moments of family life while outrunning deep grief. Smith moves from first home to first queer teenage crushes, video cameras, post-club hookups, fears and terrors, closeted lovers, and daydreams of confronting your childhood bully.
Queers Like Me is an enveloping book— a meditation on family complexity and a celebration of personal insight.
146 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2023
About the author
Michael V. Smith
10 books27 followersMichael V. Smith is a writer, comedian, filmmaker, performance artist and occasional clown.
He also is professor creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
He also is professor creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 31, 2023
I don't read a lot of poem collections and every time I do I find them absolutely stunning!! It seems as though I need more of them in my life.
Queers Like Me is vivid, raw, and beautifully written. It's the type of book you hug once you've finished reading, which I most definitely did!
If you have a love of poetry, I highly recommend checking this out.
My thanks to Book*hug Press for this gifted copy.
Queers Like Me is vivid, raw, and beautifully written. It's the type of book you hug once you've finished reading, which I most definitely did!
If you have a love of poetry, I highly recommend checking this out.
My thanks to Book*hug Press for this gifted copy.
March 23, 2024
Radiant! I have so many underlined sections and dog-eared pages. This collection is a gem and unspeakably kind.
August 4, 2023
Queers Like Me, Michael V. Smith
Pub date: October 12/23
I dove right in and read Queers Like Me by Michael V. Smith who put together a beautiful collection of poems that touches on growing up queer in a small working class town and “growing into an urban queer life.”
The poems were immersive, vivid and gripping and tugged at experiences that are often silenced.
It’s really stunning!!
Pub date: October 12/23
I dove right in and read Queers Like Me by Michael V. Smith who put together a beautiful collection of poems that touches on growing up queer in a small working class town and “growing into an urban queer life.”
The poems were immersive, vivid and gripping and tugged at experiences that are often silenced.
It’s really stunning!!
September 23, 2023
Reads like a musical track you’d set on repeat…
How did the book make me feel/think?
Michael V. Smith's poetry in “Queers Like Me” forms an intimate connection with readers. Poetry, being a personal and subjective art, often leaves readers feeling like outsiders. Yet, when stumbling upon a collection like this, the impact can be truly transformative.
Smith’s work can be described as a “lyrical memoir offering solace through acceptance.”
Poetry uniquely captures and expresses the essence of one’s experiences and emotions, defying the boundaries of traditional prose. Smith has masterfully achieved this, crafting a poetic journey that delves into both personal and universal themes of identity and individuality.
“Queers Like Me” reads like a melodic track on constant repeat. With each subsequent play (read), it evolves into a work of art that resonates so deeply that one is compelled to revisit it time and time again.
Undoubtedly, a contender for the Top 10 of the year!
WRITTEN: 23 September 2023
How did the book make me feel/think?
Michael V. Smith's poetry in “Queers Like Me” forms an intimate connection with readers. Poetry, being a personal and subjective art, often leaves readers feeling like outsiders. Yet, when stumbling upon a collection like this, the impact can be truly transformative.
Smith’s work can be described as a “lyrical memoir offering solace through acceptance.”
Poetry uniquely captures and expresses the essence of one’s experiences and emotions, defying the boundaries of traditional prose. Smith has masterfully achieved this, crafting a poetic journey that delves into both personal and universal themes of identity and individuality.
“Queers Like Me” reads like a melodic track on constant repeat. With each subsequent play (read), it evolves into a work of art that resonates so deeply that one is compelled to revisit it time and time again.
Undoubtedly, a contender for the Top 10 of the year!
WRITTEN: 23 September 2023
January 20, 2026
This book opens with what I can only describe as a 60-page verse short story about the author's weird family dynamics, which wasn't really my jam and felt a little too colloquial to catch me (the Notes and Acknowledgements tell me that it originated as a spoken piece, and I probably would have responded better to it in that context). The rest of the poems are shorter and more traditional, and I enjoyed the breadth of subject matter, from teenage gay nonsense to an extended sequence on the decline and death of his father titled from non-sequitur Facebook posts.
Highlights for me included How Loud Are Men, the Facebook sequence of poems, and Future Perfect.
Highlights for me included How Loud Are Men, the Facebook sequence of poems, and Future Perfect.
April 2, 2026
3.5 stars.
While the poetry here isn't always to my taste stylistically, I really enjoyed Smith's gift for storytelling within those poems. Grandma Cooper's Corpse and Facebook are both longer poems that tell deeply personal stories that were very compelling. I also enjoyed the poems Honk, Queers Like Me, Falafel, Sam Hill, A Dream Writes a Poem About a Moose, Metaphor, and Braiding Sweetgrass. It wouldn't be a go to for me as a whole, but I still got a lot out of it and would recommend giving it a go if you enjoy confessional poetry. I would also read the poet again if given the chance.
While the poetry here isn't always to my taste stylistically, I really enjoyed Smith's gift for storytelling within those poems. Grandma Cooper's Corpse and Facebook are both longer poems that tell deeply personal stories that were very compelling. I also enjoyed the poems Honk, Queers Like Me, Falafel, Sam Hill, A Dream Writes a Poem About a Moose, Metaphor, and Braiding Sweetgrass. It wouldn't be a go to for me as a whole, but I still got a lot out of it and would recommend giving it a go if you enjoy confessional poetry. I would also read the poet again if given the chance.
September 13, 2023
ARC given by Edelweiss+ for Honest Review
Strange, macabre, and scintillating. Strong prose but a lack of metaphor for my personal taste.
My favorite poems are: "A Parallel Universe", "Queers Like Me", "1990", and "Braiding Sweetgrass."
Strange, macabre, and scintillating. Strong prose but a lack of metaphor for my personal taste.
My favorite poems are: "A Parallel Universe", "Queers Like Me", "1990", and "Braiding Sweetgrass."
October 24, 2023
I really really loved this.
Michael's writing is so endearing and warm, even when discussing things that are uncomfortable. I felt like I was listening to a friend. I felt like I was being trusted to listen.
Michael's writing is so endearing and warm, even when discussing things that are uncomfortable. I felt like I was listening to a friend. I felt like I was being trusted to listen.
September 8, 2026
At times, like reading my own queer-boy-from-small-town-Ontario history.
At other times, not at all.
But what if we’d been able to know each other. Know more of each other. We wouldn’t have necessarily all like each other. But the knowledge of our numbers would’ve certainly been awesome.
At other times, not at all.
But what if we’d been able to know each other. Know more of each other. We wouldn’t have necessarily all like each other. But the knowledge of our numbers would’ve certainly been awesome.
October 1, 2023
Stunning book! It's funny and harrowing. Michael is an expert storyteller, and these poems are gorgeous!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews