CRUEL/CRUEL

by Dior J. Stephens

A response to the unimaginable cruelties that became our new quotidian in 2020, that moves musically and discursively through innovative permutations of lyric form.

CRUEL/CRUEL is the manifestation of a Black, queer voice grappling with the intricacies of (un)belonging and identity. These poems use genres of queerness and race to reckon with the pervasive power of oppressive institutions, shaped by art and a soundtrack of Black musical traditions of resistance: from jazz to soul to experimental to hip hop. A hybrid visual and literary object, CRUEL/CRUEL feels relentlessly present, and yet emphasizes the archival and documentary as intrinsic to our personal and collective survivals.

Genres: Poetry, Queer

88 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2023

About the author

Dior J. Stephens is a proud Midwestern pisces poet. He is the author of SCREAMS & lavender, 001, and CANNON!, all with Ghost City Press. Dior holds an MFA in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Philosophy program at the University of Cincinnati. Dior hopes to be a dolphin in his next life. Dior’s preferred pronouns are he/they.

Reviews

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting to hear poems from this book read aloud by Dior J Stephens was magical. And then reading it was so cool because I got to see how the page reflects into performance! Stunning book.

[K. Iver · Rating 5 out of 5]

The individual poems are wonderful and book makes sense as a book! Absolutely love how the poems talk to one another, how they stack and unfold.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

STUNNING. Hearing Dior talk about how their theatre training influenced the line breaks and rhythm of his poetry was inspiring. I guess Stanislavsky and scansion have practical applications after all