Horrible Dance

by Avery Lake

2022 Governor General's Literary Award Shortlist * 2022 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry Finalist A brilliant poetic debut about gender-based violence that dismantles received definitions of both gender and violence, Horrible Dance is an accomplished addition to transfeminist thought and theory. By turns darkly comic, emotionally connected, playful, incisive, lyrical and irreverent, Lake's poems navigate a harrowing personal and political terrain with understated, expansive wisdom. Lake persistently returns us to the search for love that lies at the core of relational trauma, even as she shows us how catastrophically such a search can be derailed. This is a rare text able to hold the full velocity of a survivor's hurt and rage alongside a clear-eyed understanding of the extent and complexity of harm. In their honest accounting of a wide array of bad encounters, these poems point us, again, toward compassion, tenderness, and solidarity. can you forgive me
for how you hurt me so bad
- "On Shame"

Genres: Poetry, LGBT

71 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2022

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems are raw, loud, filled with rage and pain. It's probably impossible for anyone to understand the trans experience completely unless they have gone through it themselves, but through these poems, Lake transforms her experiences into words that cut and shock, and that gave me an idea of the kind of world she lives in. "Horrible Dance" is a very apt title; really sums up Lake's poems which are fluid and rhythmic --+ she often uses repetition/refrains --, while also painting really fucked up pictures of trauma and misery. A Horrible Dance that I couldn't stop until I reached the end.

Local author; Lake references cities and landmarks in Montreal that I recognized, which was interesting for me.

*Read it as e-book on my phone; note to self-- re-read physical copy

**A memorable line on loss/grief:
"The one thing shared by every you/ is how it's so fast & so slow -- you/ disappear overnight & that night becomes/a year."

[tessa s · Rating 4 out of 5]

One horrible year,
just like every other year

This short poetry collection is trans anger and frustration wrapping itself around the need to perform and the violence of existing within our dominant society. Through irony and humor Avery Lake interrogates the trauma of survival. Beautifully written, and moving short-form poetry.

[Sam Laverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh amygdala. / It's oozing in, thru the floor & the ceiling. / Oh the poems are scabbing.

Lake writes about experiences foreign to me, but she does so with such raw power and emotion that I feel I can understand, if only a bit.

[Lee Suksi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal, funny, inviting

Thank you for this work

[Casey]

Not rating cause of Libby formatting issues and so I couldn’t read some poems well, but I really enjoyed this. So note to self, try to own a physical copy.

[Bea Edmiston · Rating 5 out of 5]

fully embodied writing. I can taste the carpet of the house parties described