Charismatic Spirals

by Will Alexander

A series by Common Era, the neon-yellow eleventh edition of the diminutive isolarii (meaning ‘island texts’) features the work ‘Charismatic Spirals’ by American poet Will Alexander, best known for his prophetic and technologically imaginative writing.

'Charismatic Spirals is for an America circa 2024, where poetry – the art of developing new means of speaking—has never been of such artistic, technological, and political consequence.’

204 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2023

About the author

Born in 1948, Will Alexander is a poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, visual artist and pianist. He was the recipient of a Whiting Fellowship for Poetry in 2001 and a California Arts Council Fellowship in 2002. He was also the subject of a colloquium published in the prestigious African American cultural journal, Callaloo in 1999. Author of nine previous books, Alexander has taught at various colleges including University of California, San Diego, New College (San Francisco, CA), Hofstra University, and Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, in addition to being associated with the nonprofit organization Theatre of Hearts/Youth First, serving at-risk youth. He is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Frankie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice words but meaningless. This will be my last isolarii

[David Macpherson]

I didn't get the poems I read. I read them aloud and they sounded amazing. But Ireally didn't understand a damn thing. The stuyle was unique and I dug my experience with it, but I don't know if I will read more of his work. I like that I read this, but really, I didn't understand anything.

[Debby Friday · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very vibes-y. I don’t think it is necessarily supposed to “make sense” in a linear fashion. The poems seemed to me to be more about disrupting thought and language and assumptive processes. I read these out loud and I liked the way they felt on my tongue.

[Chad P · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first isolarii will also probably be my last. Maybe I just didn’t get it, but these poems seemed to be an attempt to put together as many big words as possible. It was lost on me.

[Robert Boyd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated these meaningless poems and essays and am sorry I spent the time to read them.

[Caela Lao]

not for me.