Coachella Elegy

by Christian Gullette

Winner of the 2023 Trio Award, Christian Gullette's Coachella Elegy explores the queer promised lands and poolside utopias of the American West even as they are threatened by environmental destruction. With precision and clarity, Gullette's poems wander the desert landscape of California, reveling in its beauties and challenging its sacred myths. His speaker seamlessly transports us from a hospital room where his husband battles cancer to the Palm Springs oasis where the vacationing couple celebrates survival. But their days of mimosas and the "spirit of unrestraint" are haunted by tragedy-the death of a young brother, the danger of climate change. In this utterly original debut, Gullette casts "a dream world that doesn't erode, doesn't mold," a story of pleasure against the odds, a story of endurance. Coachella Elegy is a lament for what is lost, and also an unforgettable song of hope and renewal.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Queer

90 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2024

About the author

Christian Gullette’s forthcoming debut poetry collection Coachella Elegy won the Trio House Press Trio Award and was mentioned in LitHub’s "Poetry Books to Read in 2024." His poems have appeared or will soon appear in The New Republic, The American Poetry Review, The Yale Review, Kenyon Review, New England Review, and the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series (selected by Diane Seuss). He is the recipient of a 2022 Bread Loaf scholarship. Christian received his Ph.D. in Scandinavian Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Berkeley, and he works as a professional Swedish-to-English translator. Christian also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Cortland Review. He lives in San Francisco.

Reviews

[reading_racc00n · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coachella Elegy feels like spending time with your lover by the pool on a hot summer day. The poems are sticky and filled with lust and yearning. Gullette expertly sends you diving head first into romance, environmentalism, and grief.

Many of the poems are written with such love and affection it feels intrusive to read. We peak under the covers, inside the political mindset and with great honesty a look at his familial past. Some of my personal favorite poems are about Gullette’s anxiety and anger toward the current climate crisis.

Coachella Elegy is the perfect summer poetry collection. A few of my personal favorite poems were Single Sheet, Desert Hymn, California Spring, Airbnb Art, and Coachella Elegy. This is a collection I will be rereading and recommending to anyone looking for beautiful and exciting poetry.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. I really enjoyed this one and it made me nostalgic for the desert.

[Leigh Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beehive State Elegy

Hives emblazoned on temple doors and traffic signs,
this 45th state full of dinosaur bones.

Scientists can't find the bee graves either,
hidden in these mountains.

Nearby there's a ski lift
where a hundred years ago

people in cabins died young
like my brother.

We plant flowers in the median strip
near the spot he rolled his Jeep

while the 7-Eleven cashier watched
through bulletproof glass.

Only traces of him
remain in the desert, small as pollen,

which is what they find in mummy stomachs:
Ice Age flowers.

[Gabriel Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC given by Edelweiss+ for Honest Review

A touching collection of poetry. Gullette takes the reader on the journey through hospitals, lush hotels, love, grief, and much more.

The language is gentle and heartfelt but part of me didn't connect as intently as I wanted to.

My favorite poems are: "Airbnb Art", "Blaze", "Central Valley", and "Seahorse with Cotton Swab."

[Julia Bucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Coachella Elegy

Somewhere there's music.
We drive by Coachella
to the Salton Sea.
A sea as dead as Salt Lake.
My phone buzzes.
It's the anniversary
of my brother's death.
There are no reeds
as there are at Cana
and this water will not
become wine.
Shorebirds drink it,
not because they love
the world
but because
there's a magnet in it..."

[Carla]

A beautiful series of Western poems, filled with young love and loss, and many pleasures.

[Megan Pinto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous images. The world of this book stayed with me long after I finished reading. What a beautiful debut.

[Zach Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

My uncle is so cool :)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I kept the lights on against his wishes,
so I could see ahead into our story."

[Kayla - the.bookish.mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do a visualization with me: let’s say you are really going through it, and you take a dip in a cool pool, sun on your skin. And when you are finally bone tired (emotionally and physically) you go and lay on fresh, clean sheets. And right before you drift off to sleep, the person you love most in the world comes and gives you a forehead kiss. That is what reading Coachella Elegy feels like. It’s tender in a way that makes you thankful to be human because it shows the beauty in grieving things, because in that grief we take the time to notice, and to care. That no matter how stunning our surroundings, we can still coexist with our sorrow, and maybe we are better for it. These poems show what a contradiction it is to find love, and pleasure, against a tumultuous and uncertain world. That all of this is its own comfort. I loved this book. So much. I tabbed so many poems. It’s just so good.