An Optimism: Poems

by Cameron Awkward-Rich

Genres: Poetry, Queer

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2025

About the author

Cameron Awkward-Rich is a poet and a scholar of trans theory/expressive culture. Awkward-Rich received his B.A. in English and Biology from Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University. His writing and teaching creatively combine trans/feminist/queer theory, disability studies, black studies, and poetry and other forms of experimental writing to explore transgender aesthetics and cultural production, the conflicted histories of trans/feminist/queer thought in the U.S., and collective affect/feeling.

Presently, he is an associate professor in the Department of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Reviews

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

i heard palinode at a reading and was captivated. every poem is just as absorbing as that moment sitting in big room as cameron awkward-rich repeats no, inflecting each one differently. he's such a beautiful poet

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection, just as I knew I would. "Inner Life," is one of my favorite poems ever.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never know what I'm doing reading or talking about poetry, but I think Cameron Awkward-Rich is so smart, and that came through strong in this collection as well. I liked reading it.

[Angry.Sad.Motivated · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the speaker in these poems navigates with an academic’s mind and interests, the poems are written down to earth and spare. I really liked the Ekphrastic pieces. A careful, skillful rendering and of a mind reconstructing the self.