Hard Drive

by Paul Stephenson

When his partner suddenly died, life changed utterly for Paul Stephenson. Hard Drive is the outcome of his revisiting a world he thought he knew, but which had been upended. In poems that are affectionate, self-examining, sometimes funny and often surprised by grief in the oddest corners, the poet takes us through rooms, routines, and rituals of bereavement, the memory of love, a shared life and separation. A noted formalist, with a flair for experiment, pattern and the use of constraints, Stephenson has written a remarkable first book, moving and, despite everything, a hopeful record of a gay relationship. It is also a landmark elegy collection.

Genres: Poetry

129 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2023

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wry, wrenching debut collection is an extended elegy for the poet’s partner, Tod Hartman, an American anthropologist who died of heart failure at 38. There’s every style, tone and structure imaginable here. Stephenson riffs on his partner’s oft-misspelled name (the German for death), and writes of discovery, autopsy, sadmin and rituals. In “The Only Book I Took” he opens up Tod’s copy of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, which came from Wonder Book, the bookstore chain I worked at in Maryland!

[Tyjinc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked the spareness of expository information between narratively threaded poems. Love the one where the word tomato appears in every line. In general because the depth and singularity of the speaker’s sorrow was so strong I enjoyed when there were really tight formal constraints and lists involved because otherwise the wallowing was too loose.

[JP Rubio · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good thing to be reminded that poetry serves to talk to yourself and question your time and place. Sometimes you find books a bit later than would be ideal, but in this case it arrived just in time.

[Corinna Board · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Stephenson’s poems are innovative, clever and heartbreaking. This collection will stay with me for awhile. Highly recommend.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply emotional; wonderful stylistically.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I liked this overall, and really loved the poem titled ‘Namesake’, but it relied so heavily on repetition that it felt one note at times despite the moving topics.