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Being Full of Light, Insubstantial
An exciting new collection of 100 poems written by the first African-American recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in poetry. This collection includes original pieces and reprints from such sources as African Voices, Strange Horizons, and Fantastic Stories. With original photography and art by Brian J. Addison.
- GenresPoetry
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2007
About the author
Linda D. Addison
74 books61 followersLinda D. Addison was born in Philadelphia in 1952. She is the oldest of nine children and received a bachelor of science in mathematics from Carnegie-Mellon University. She is the author of three collections: “Being Full of Light, Insubstantial”, “Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes” and “Animated Objects” (Space & Time Books). Her work has also appeared in numerous publications, including Essence magazine, Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine and Doorways magazine,.
In 2001, Addison was the first African-American to win the HWA's Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in poetry for “Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes”. Other prominent recipients of this distinguished award include authors, Alice Sebold (Lovely Bones) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series).
She was honored with her second Bram Stoker Award for her third collection of poems titled “Being Full of Light, Insubstantial” (Space & Time Books).
She is the only author with fiction in three landmark anthologies that celebrate African-Americans speculative writers: the award-winning anthology Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction (Warner Aspect), Dark Dreams (Kensington), and Dark Thirst (Pocket Book).
Her work has made frequent appearances over the years on the honorable mention list for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and Year’s Best Science-Fiction.
In 2001, Addison was the first African-American to win the HWA's Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in poetry for “Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes”. Other prominent recipients of this distinguished award include authors, Alice Sebold (Lovely Bones) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series).
She was honored with her second Bram Stoker Award for her third collection of poems titled “Being Full of Light, Insubstantial” (Space & Time Books).
She is the only author with fiction in three landmark anthologies that celebrate African-Americans speculative writers: the award-winning anthology Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction (Warner Aspect), Dark Dreams (Kensington), and Dark Thirst (Pocket Book).
Her work has made frequent appearances over the years on the honorable mention list for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and Year’s Best Science-Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 6, 2026
Vivid in space spiritual poetry!
January 22, 2015
Stuff I Read - Being Full of Light, Insubstantial by Linda D. Addison Review
So poetry. I'm trying to read more and so I figure a good place to go is Linda D. Addison, because I also like speculative fiction and she does both. And I was not disappointed. These poems run the gamut of speculative. Some are horror, some kind of fantasy, and a great many of them science fiction. I think I would say it's sci fi more than it's anything else, which I wasn't quite expecting because judging from some of her other works the author does horror. But the collection was great. Divided into three sections, it was well structured, easy enough to read, and some really great poems.
I think part of what I liked so much about this collection is that it manages to capture so many different things, different genres, all while remaining consistent and not jarring. I enjoyed the sci fi stories, like the one about Jar Boy, along side other poems that were more about writing, more about love, more about a lot of different things. The style was mainly the same, favoring shorter lines to longer ones, but that gave the poems more of an airy feel, like they were full of possibility, of breath, and I really liked going through them. There was variety as well, and I enjoyed the chunkier poems as well, ones that were more concrete, built like little bricks.
But the title of the work does lend itself more to the shorter lines, to the sense that things are, well, unbecoming. It's a theme that runs throughout, from the early poems through the later ones, like Jar Boy journeying out into the stars and then returning to find everything gone. And then going right back out. Because the unbecoming doesn't seem like a loss, exactly. At least not a tragic one. It seems like a transformation of sorts, of becoming less solid and more an idea. Of transcending. And so it works and ties things together and makes me want to stare and nod.
And really, these are some fun poems as well. Even when more serious, even when more somber, these poems read well with a language that lit up my brain. Not all of them hit as well as others, and some of them hit on some familiar themes, but everything was good. Everything seemed in place and flowing nicely. I never had to put the collection down because I was upset, and neither did I have to because I was too confused. It was good, and I would recommend it, giving it an 8.5/10.
So poetry. I'm trying to read more and so I figure a good place to go is Linda D. Addison, because I also like speculative fiction and she does both. And I was not disappointed. These poems run the gamut of speculative. Some are horror, some kind of fantasy, and a great many of them science fiction. I think I would say it's sci fi more than it's anything else, which I wasn't quite expecting because judging from some of her other works the author does horror. But the collection was great. Divided into three sections, it was well structured, easy enough to read, and some really great poems.
I think part of what I liked so much about this collection is that it manages to capture so many different things, different genres, all while remaining consistent and not jarring. I enjoyed the sci fi stories, like the one about Jar Boy, along side other poems that were more about writing, more about love, more about a lot of different things. The style was mainly the same, favoring shorter lines to longer ones, but that gave the poems more of an airy feel, like they were full of possibility, of breath, and I really liked going through them. There was variety as well, and I enjoyed the chunkier poems as well, ones that were more concrete, built like little bricks.
But the title of the work does lend itself more to the shorter lines, to the sense that things are, well, unbecoming. It's a theme that runs throughout, from the early poems through the later ones, like Jar Boy journeying out into the stars and then returning to find everything gone. And then going right back out. Because the unbecoming doesn't seem like a loss, exactly. At least not a tragic one. It seems like a transformation of sorts, of becoming less solid and more an idea. Of transcending. And so it works and ties things together and makes me want to stare and nod.
And really, these are some fun poems as well. Even when more serious, even when more somber, these poems read well with a language that lit up my brain. Not all of them hit as well as others, and some of them hit on some familiar themes, but everything was good. Everything seemed in place and flowing nicely. I never had to put the collection down because I was upset, and neither did I have to because I was too confused. It was good, and I would recommend it, giving it an 8.5/10.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews