Sift

by Christian Hawkey

In his first book since the critically acclaimed and influential VENTRAKL, Christian Hawkey's SIFT presents readers with fiercely resonant, interlingual inquiries into desire and power. Emerging out of Hawkey's co-translation of the Arabic (with Marouane Zakhir) of Moroccan theorist Abdessalam Benabdelali, SIFT calls attention to sifted speech, to what "catches in the throat," and how language refuses easy transmission. Cinematic in its unfolding and lyrically explorative across multiple Englishes, SIFT is a profound experiment in language by an ever-provocative poet. "In this extraordinary collection, Christian Hawkey shows us the infinite porosity of words is the infinite porosity of worlds. Here, the lingual is neither mono nor multi. Rather, the transit of language beckons the unbecoming of settler colonial geographies. The prose is delicate, tender even, yet Hawkey unflinchingly addresses the grievous violence of our times. Coveting this book like a beaming secret, I found myself sneaking off to pet it. Sift convinces us to cherish every yield."--Jasbir K. Puar "Created in the interstices of translation, SIFT is a formally intricate work that demonstrates a brilliant engagement with the etymological trails (and trials) of language and translation and their interpenetration with empire, colonialism, history, politics, and parenting. I did not want to leave this poem that urgently names what needs to be is."--M. NourbeSe Philip "SIFT is a remarkable, radical book-length poem that simultaneously coils and uncoils throughout its etymological journey, destabilizing linguistic coloniality. Circling around and between Arabic and English, the poem's language is translingual, syntactically volatile, sonically playful, incantatory, mirror-like, and trans-marginated. Christian Hawkey's SIFT sings, laments, protests, and exists alongside Inger Christensen's alphabet."--Don Mee Choi Poetry.

97 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the first films made
simply documented
the place where
the camera used to film
was made Workers
Leaving The Lumiere Factory
in Lyon (1895) illustrating how
a new medium emerging
is first always
in love with itself (12)



the logo for paramount pictures
depicts ben lomond
a mountain in utah
named NO
re-named
by settler mary wilson montgomery
after a mountain in scotland
all the settler
colon
lai
threads end

in a logo (19)



my cursor
over this phrase hovers
how much time
in a given day
spent deciding
whether to click (23)



columbus
from columbo an italian surname
meaning "dove & given often
to orphans altho he was
not an orphan his father
ran a cheese stand
christopher's first job
was selling cheese idk

why i find this mundane fact
so disturbing first
cheese stand
then genocide (27)


nauseously
dnarb a
a semoceb
word clorox chapstick
cellophane escalators dry ice popsicles
eaten in a dumpster jacuzzi (55)


the way a ma n
grnd dwn by mas
culinity 1 day in the mirror
realizes the perf

ormance involves
pre tending the per
ormance is eff
ortless. a fuckload o work act

ually. (65)

[Taylor Napolsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. I read it twice, and let the language—and the study of language—pour over me, trying to understand it sometimes but much of the time just letting go. This poem—(because the book is one long poem)—has such density to it, while somehow never feeling like a challenge to read, and I appreciated that I didn’t have to look up any of the words, because I do get tired of that.

It’s enjoyable really thinking about the connections words have through a long historical lineage, language to language; or, I should say, (and this just applies to me personally), it’s enjoyable when it’s put in this form: a poem that feels like (that is!) art more than a scholarly text.

[Adrian Lürssen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not so much a review as a pronouncement. I think Hawkey is one of our most important poets. Interesting to follow the arc of his work and arrive here.