If One Continues to Survive : An Anthology of Resistances

by Joshua C. Pipkins (Curator), Angel Rosen (Curator), Emily Perkovich (Editor)

Togetherness is a fierce weapon. All around the world, people are writing to save their lives and to save the lives of others. This has always been true, but it becomes ever more essential.

What does it mean to resist? One definition says, "to withstand, strive against, or oppose." Another definition simply says, "be proof against." These writers come together to be the proof.

As long as you are speaking your truth, you are surviving something. Resistance can be advocacy, sharing resources, talking, asking, listening, showing up, providing mutual aid. Resistance can also be sharing meals, holding your friend's hand, taking care of yourself, being abundantly queer, being unapologetically yourself, or writing about a feeling that someone else is afraid to feel.

What are you resisting with your existence? Who do you prove wrong, by having your courageous power to survive?

In this collection, we contemplate what it means to take up space, to resist, and to question what the world wants us to be. We break molds. No one gets left behind.

This is what happens when one continues to survive. - Angel Rosen, winner of the 2025 Maureen Seaton Poetry Prize

*Cover art by Chrissy Carlson

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 2025

Reviews

[Bridgitte Rodguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of poetry all relating to place. If you appreciate poetry, in all its forms, you might enjoy this one. As always I think the point of poetry is to give you a window into another’s point of view. Make you think and question. The poems in this book do just that.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an eARC for my honest review.

This was more like a 3.5 for me but I enjoyed enough of the poems to round up instead of down.

I'm generally new to the poetry space, having only started to fully venture into it this month with me having written a few here and there in the past years, using what I remembered from my English classes. And I'm generally enjoying my exploration of the genre and the forms.

I find that collections like this, generally grab my attention the most currently, exploring a multitude of authors and poets more easily then trying to find singular collections and hoping they end up striking a cord. And, of course it helps that this collection is using the money earned from for a good cause, especially during this time where both POC, and LGBTQIA+ people are struggling, never mind LGBTQIA+ People of color.

Now that being said, this isn't a large collection, but there were a decent amount that I felt stood out. Anatomy of the Artist was beautiful, along with Where Respite Lives, and a few others that I can imagine myself looking back at. But others- as with it is with most anthologies- kind of fade. Do I enjoy most of them enough to say to pay the 3$ or the 15$ needed to get this? Yeah, I'd say so. Though I am new when it comes to poetry, so take a gander at some other reviews before making your decision.

[Shyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy

Poetry has spoken to me during very dark times in my life. This truly is no different. Some of the poems were raw while others were defiant.
Definitely worth picking up if you're in the mood for sadness and rage

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

If One Continues to Survive is a powerful anthology of poetry written by people who have endured—or are still enduring—various forms of trauma. The collection explores an array of emotional and often heavy topics, including spousal abuse, addiction, the violence faced by those who are not cisgender, the pain of suppressing one’s true self, the haunting aftermath of military service, and even the collective dread of living under the threat of authoritarianism.

These poems feel deeply relevant to our current world and its struggles. This collection offers raw, unfiltered insight into what it’s like to live with trauma, making it a valuable read for anyone wanting to better understand others' experiences—or to feel less alone in their own.

That said, the book does not shy away from painful truths. Readers who are still working through their own trauma should proceed with caution, as many pieces could be triggering. But if you’re in a place where you're ready to lean into this honesty—or you want to gain empathy for those who carry these burdens—this anthology has much to offer. I thought it was very well done.

[Luis A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If One Continues to Survive," an anthology of poetry which name tells exactly what the book is all about, starts with the poem "DAO' simple but profound in its lines: I trust no one/ Knows better than me myself/ The way to progress, the second stanza. This says much about the person's confidence. "The poem "Washing the Dishes," another good poem shows that much can be said about that activity trivial to many, and that this activity can be full of meaning or signifies a great deal according to the circumstances.
This is a people-poetry book. Not nature or abstract circumstances dominate the book, but persons and their thoughts that take many forms from the contemplative to the questioning. No pretty verses or rhyme-schemes characterize the book, but writing than sometimes is big like prose and not poetic expressions though there are some lines that show some kind of poetic diction..
This is a book that should be read for what the poems represent, situations about life, and not for beautiful or poetic verses even though this can be seen in some lines.

[K.C. Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was somewhere between a three and a four for me. It's the kind of poetry collection where I align with the politics, and where I appreciated the diversity of the poets, but where I wish there had been a bit more diversity of form. Blank verse is generally my least favorite form of poetry, and this collection is almost entirely devoid or more intentional structures. However, that's me, and I still liked what these poems had to say even if I would have appreciated more wordplay.

All that said, I appreciated the messages and the subjects of these works. I think a lot of people feel that poetry is generally too dense to be readily accessible to many readers. These poems are pretty direct and to the point, while addressing a variety of intersectional topics, including transphobia, fatphobia, race, rest, and liberation.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me get my grubby little hands on an ARC copy.

[john compton · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best anthology i've ever read