Sonnets from a Cell

by Bradley Peters

Poems for and about the incarcerated. Moving from riots to mall parkades to church, the poems in Bradley Peters' debut Sonnets from a Cell mix inmate speech, prison psychology, skateboard slang and contemporary lyricism in a way that is tough and tender, that is accountable both to Peters' own days "caught between the past and nothing" and to the structures that sentence so many "to lose." Written behind doors our culture too often keeps closed, this is poetry reaching out for moments of longing, wild joy and grace. Drawing on his own experiences as a teenager and young adult in and out of the Canadian prison system, Peters has written both a personal reckoning and a damning and eloquent account of our violence- and enforcement-obsessed capitalist and patriarchal cultures.

Genres: Poetry, Canada

96 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2023

Reviews

[Jillian B · Rating 5 out of 5]

These masterfully written poems shed light on the impact of imprisonment on a person’s psyche. They are rich with detail, and the narrative voice is strong and distinct. Each poem’s final line is echoed in the first line of the next poem, which I thought was very cool and worked very well. I continue to be impressed by the collections being published by Brick Books!

[jane bro · Rating 3 out of 5]

just picked this up from the bookstore randomly because ive been devouring poems and i liked the title. i was wonderfully surprised. the structure of the collection was interesting (each ending line of a sonnet beginning the next poem). there were some really delicious images conjured in these poems. a very soft and masculine debut with a reach towards survival.

“what i want”
“sleep paralysis”
“learning to live”
“on quiet nights you can hear trains down the hill from mission institution”
“daydreaming in the shower before lights-out ii”
“i like to lie here with my eyes closed and think…”
“be a man”
“old age and wolves”
“red bird”
“prison economics”
“afterwards, some place bets on it and when he checks in”

[Zach Janz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of sonnets will have you re-reading them moments after finishing, and thinking about them days and weeks after. It’s gives the reader small glimpses of what it is to exist within prison.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really effective, cohesive poetry collection that shines a light on how prisoners are dehumanized and traumatized through one man's experiences in the system. When you read a quote from an academic journal dryly pointing put how prison journaling "requires minimal interaction" and "is time efficient", then read journal fragments of clearly highly traumatic and violent experiences, it really gets you, ya know?

Doubly so when I realize that this man is from my own community and the place he was incarcerated is local to me. These men are not in the US or some distant nation with a terrible human rights record - they are right here in Canada. The issues of institutional violence, isolation, emotional repression, and toxic masculinity are baked into the system we rely upon to "rehabilitate" these people, and it's hard to feel like they have a fighting chance if the depiction here is in any way reflective of reality.

[Vivian Zenari]

It is okay

[Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant, but I hated it.