The Shadowgraph: Poems

by James Cihlar

In The Shadowgraph James Cihlar explores the ways images, performances, and memories shape and inform LGBTQ+ identity. Golden-age Hollywood cinema—in particular the career of fiercely independent actress Barbara Stanwyck—provides the screen on which Cihlar projects characters and stories bravely, even defiantly, performed. Cihlar’s commentary on individual films—as well as on human experience and desire—is intense, smart, and right on target.

89 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

James Cihlar’s books include A Conversation with My Imaginary Daughter, Rancho Nostalgia, Metaphysical Bailout, and Undoing. His poems have appeared in Forklift, Ohio; Rhino; Prairie Schooner; Bloom; Verse Daily, The American Poetry Review and Lambda Literary Review.

Reviews

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, there's nothing like a dysfunctional midwestern childhood. I know ye well. And in these intense portraits we get a first-row seat where we glimpse so many fresh, specific, and surprising details. This theme is layered over a series of meditations on film, creating a complex weave of story. I’m honored that we published one of these in SR.

In the middle of summer
I miss summer.

That's it, that's what's wrong, she just said it out loud.

Can the brain gain weight?

the past was another country I could visit.

Something about worry is addictive.
Once you start feeling it, you start to perform it.

[William Reichard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing poetry collection. It uses the trope of classic Hollywood cinema to explore our contemporary world, and offer insights into what has and has not changed over the decades. In particular, it focuses on the life and films of Barbara Stanwyck, whose career spanned from the 1930’s through the 1980’s.