Side Effects May Include Strangers

by Dominik Parisien

Ask, Can we for a moment make of beauty / the measure of our pain? and I will answer. To be ill is to be a body bursting with strangers. A curiosity. A narrative to interpret. Dominik Parisien's debut collection is a poignant celebration of the complicated lived experience of disability, a challenge to the societal gaze, and a bold reconfiguration of the language of pain. A powerful contribution to the field of disability poetics, Side Effects May Include Strangers is an affecting look at the multitude of ways a body is both boundary and boundless. Parisien takes bpNichol's claim that "what is a poem is inside of your body" and localizes the inner and outer lives of disabled, queer, and aging bodies as points of meaning for issues of autonomy, disability, sexuality, and language. Balancing hope and uncertainty, anger and gratitude, these poems shift from medical practice to myth, from trauma to intergenerational friendship, in an unflinching exploration of the beauty and complexity of othered bodies.

Genres: Poetry

77 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 22, 2020

About the author

Dominik Parisien is an editor, poet, and writer. He is the author of the forthcoming memoir On a Scale of 1 to 500 Miles and the poetry collection Side Effects May Include Strangers (2020). He is also the co-editor, along with Navah Wolfe, of The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales, Robots vs Fairies, and The Mythic Dream. With Elsa Sjnunneson-Henry, he is the co-editor of Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction. His anthologies have won several awards, including the Hugo, Shirley Jackson, British Fantasy, and Aurora Awards.

His work has appeared in The Fiddlehead, The Humber Literary Review, Arc Poetry Magazine, Quill & Quire, Uncanny Magazine, Strange Horizons,, and various other journals. Dominik is a disabled, bisexual, French Canadian. He lives in Hamilton.

Reviews

[Peter McCambridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I read a collection of poetry that I love, I think, I should read more poetry like THIS.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of poems that convey how hard the articulation of pain can be. I just keep going back to some of the poems, this book will stay with me for sure.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dominik Parisien’s Side Effects May Include Strangers is a necessary and insightful examination of pain, and its troubled articulation in language. It counters conventional and ableist attitudes towards the body with defiant strength and debunking of myths. “I like to fuck in protest of this body.” from “AFTER CONVULSING IN PUBLIC” is probably my favourite line from the book and I repeat it like a mantra sometimes to get me through. The book is an inclusive, compassionate gathering of bodies in pain, queer bodies, bisexual bodies, and an empowering celebration of othered bodies.

Dominik will be a guest on The Small Machine Talks in late June.

[Margaryta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly perfect collection that I couldn't put down. Parisien is a magician with words.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an incredible collection of poetry. This book made me really happy that poetry exists and that humans have the capacity to appreciate it.

This book is exactly as described in the blurb, an incredible mediation on disability, human vulnerability, and the knife of pain. Some standout poems for me included: "Let us for a moment call this pain by other words," "Bilingual pathways," "With Apologies to Those with Congenital Analgesia," "A portrait of the Monster as an Artist," "Card Game with Disabled Friends," and "Hospital Time."

This is definitely on my "recommend" list and I'm sure I'll be giving a few copies out at this time next year.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hugh MacLennan Poetry Series from MQUP has been invaluable in recent years publishing a range a voices in Canadian poetry. Dominik Parisien's disability poetics in "Side Effects May Include Strangers" is an excellent example. Amongst other issues, these poems speak to disability, aging, hospitalization, sexuality and language, to name a few. I found these poems mature and evolved. In most cases, the poetry is brief and accessible, making it especially useful to recommend to those looking to better understand their own experience.

[Lynsea Montanari · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 The words were always pretty, although I didn’t always follow the meaning. The beginning was really strong for my taste. I can always appreciate a poetry book about life itself rather than just love or heartbreak. Some of the poems I’m sure I’ll reread and I would consider reading more from this author in the future.