After

by Fatimah Asghar

An exploration of love, loss and body, After tells the story of a young South Asian woman birthed into America. Weaving magic realism and formal experimentation, Asghar rewinds through a hectic journey filled with abuse and unbelonging. Mythical creatures, strange settings, and disjointed memories combine to chronicle the journey of a woman who learns her body through the eyes and hands of others, before defining it for herself.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Gay, Queer

51 pages, ebook

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