After: Poems by Fatimah Asghar

by Fatimah Asghar

Poetry. "What we are given in the poems that make up After is nothing short of sorcery the intimate (witch)craft Fatimah Asghar uses to lay bare our most human emotions in our most mythical bodies stuns with grace and force. Let us be grateful for a poet so gifted with the ability to remember, re-member, & reimagine life into lyric to show us what living fully is like after loss, after trauma, after healing, after joy, after what comes for us next. This book is for anyone who has survived, anyone who knows what it's like to be low and what it means to rise. After is only the beginning of many volumes of incredible work from one of our most imaginative & honest emerging voices." Danez Smith

"Poems are often called risky. Poems are sometimes called brave. Poems rarely deserve either epithet. The poems in this collection are of that most rare deserving ilk. In AFTER Fatimah Asghar displays for us the complicated polyrhythm that is the human experience. She weaves desire, hurt, devotion, and violation in such a way as to render a reader wide open. Do not be fooled by the softness of care evident in the craft behind each word. These poems, quite simply, go hard." Nate Marshall"

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Gay, Queer

48 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2015

About the author

Poet, screenwriter, educator, and performer Fatimah Asghar is a Pakistani, Kashmiri, Muslim American writer. She is the author of the poetry collection If They Should Come for Us and the chapbook After. She is also the writer and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated Brown Girls, a web series that highlights friendships between women of color. Her work has been featured on news outlets such as PBS, NPR, Time, Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, and others.

Reviews

[Tessara Dudley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asghar plays with space and form in ways that challenge the reader. Some pieces are physically difficult to decipher, structure lending itself to complex meanings and resisting the simple. Many of the poems are hard to read in content rather than form, and the combination of pieces works well. The occasional levity, such as that created by "Medusa Apologizes" rounds out this thoughtful, lovingly produced collection. Definitely recommended!

[Chaneli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! wow. such powerful poems! these poems explore violence in relationships, examines desire, anger, power, street harassment. this collection speaks a lot about the body and explores sexual assault. so many beautifully heartbreaking lines as well as the gorgeous cover art of the book which i'm completely obsessed with.

[Casey Renée · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an innovative and personal collection of poems. "Dry" is one of the best poems I've ever read.

[André Habet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read two of the poems from this collection in an issue of Gulf Coast literary journal. They were astonishing, and I then recalled that I had purchased this chapbook with a few others at a recent literary festival. So glad I listened to the person selling books at yes yes books. These are wonderful, and many experiment in form in a manner that feels true to the collection's themes of women's bodies, created mythology, sex, and family. My day is better for having read this. Make yours better.

[Speaking Marvels · Rating 5 out of 5]

from Fatimah's interview at Speaking of Marvels --

I wrote a chapbook that I wish I had at the time. Sometimes I forget that my body is mine. That my voice is mine. I view this chapbook as a response to that forgetting.

read the full interview here --

https://chapbookinterviews.wordpress....

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provocative, powerful, brilliant poetry- even the ones that confused me still delighted me with the arrangement of words.

[hh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5