The Book of Redacted Paintings

by Arthur Kayzakian

In The Book of Redacted Paintings , the narrative arc follows a boy in search of his father's painting, but it is unclear whether the painting exists or not. The book, a poetry collection, is also populated by a series of paintings. Some are real, incomplete, and/or missing, while most are redacted from reality. The withdrawn paintings concept is the emotional arc of the book, a combination of wishing one could paint the pieces he/she/they envision and the feeling of something torn out of a person due to a traumatic upbringing. A sort of erasure ekphrasis, to foresee artwork that was never painted. "Formally various, narratively propulsive, and relentlessly earnest in its psychospiritual excavations, Arthur Kayzakian's The Book of Redacted Paintings is a sincere achievement. That it represents the author's first full-length collection makes it even more remarkable. In one poem, the sound of gunfire "splits the wind in half." In another, "It rains, as if heaven crashes, it rains." Kayzakian's are poems of real stakes and scale, of the minute and the hour and the lifetime. His subjects--art, family, masculinity, empire--remain as timely as ever, but it's the uncanny juxtapositions of lyric and visual art that make The Book of Redacted Paintings an unforgettable text."--Kaveh Akbar, Author of Calling a Wolf a Wolf and The Pilgrim Bell "In his poignant and devastating debut collection, Arthur Kayzakian skillfully excavates personal memory and family history to reclaim a missing heirloom. Through poems ranging in documentary, to visual, to lyrical, Kayzakian confronts how the grief of war and displacement are compounded by the loss of stolen familial objects, beloved items that served as a reminder of the life before. Where the harms of war are intensified by new harms, these poems push against historical erasure to establish a new narrative. Kayzakian stirs with poetic prowess while achieving generational reclamation."--Mai Der Vang, Author of Yellow Rain "I love Arthur Kayzakian's The Book of Redacted Paintings for its lyricism and its honestly which comes at us not directly but by way of images and music and always speaks in tongues in a way that alerts and awakens. There is both hunger and wisdom in these poems, both silence inside the singing and the fresh music out of rooms that might have been silenced once. Not any more! The new, original, inimitable poet is in the room. Kayzakian deserves our warmest welcome."--Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa "Arthur Kazakyan's The Book of Redacted Paintings is a deft and daring first collection. It's also one of the best examples I've seen of a narrative sustained from poem to poem without sacrificing momentum. Constantly surprising, this gallery of moments is exquisitely curated; you will want to linger here. Themes of love, heritage, wonder, and the life of the artist are embodied in strokes that always seem fresh, still drying. "Forgive me collector," he says, "I'm trying to get back to my world." Follow this exhibition, it's on the move."--Brendan Constantine, Author of Dementia, My Darling Poetry. Middle Eastern Studies.

Genres: Poetry

98 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 2023

Reviews

[Neil McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch poetry, top notch guy. This is a mesmerizing collection which commands attention from start to finish.

[wulvz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god? New favorite poet unlocked. Wow, I thought it might’ve been impossible to find someone who could tear into me the way Dimitrov, Siken, Vuong, and Glück have managed to, but finally, Arthur Kayzakian has done it.

I don’t want to express too much excitement about a book grounded by so much trauma and pain, but Kayzakian paints his stories, his pain, and his trauma so viscerally and beautifully it is hard to not rave about. Whether it be his deep understanding for the generational trauma of Armenians and Iranians, his rich tellings of struggling with addiction, his beautiful beautiful beautiful ways of unpacking love and connection, I truly find him to be a genius.

I bought this reading one of the first few poems and being amazed (which is usually how I select poetry, then quickly realize after buying the poem I read was about the only good poem in the compilation). However, that was not the case with this, every single poem either felt viscerally cohesive and raw, and if not they felt like absolute art instillations and incredibly gut wrenching interactions with someone else’s art.

I am obsessed, cannot wait to read this again some day.

[Courtney LeBlanc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of poems about loss, family, grief, war, survival, and hope.

from Sonnet of My Grandfather the Original: "Now my name means lightning. The gloom around / the electrons of my name carry the charge of an empty / chair, the volt of a girl who sketches a sky dead / without birds. My grandfather held loss for his name."

from Removed Art: "the poem i planned to write was about a painting gone missing // a scrape of grief // someone felt it necessary to censor the wall"

from Stain on the Wall: "that the absence of artwork is a / casualty of migration // I say this with a smile / that bears // the blueprint of my father / hanging on the wall inside me"

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My ideal poetry collection has a strong narrative, interesting poetic form, and cutting lines. This collection bears witness to history, is interesting both in content and visual aesthetic, and showcases lines like " I tore the first world out of this book. / Do you see birds flying out of the holes in my song?"

Bravo, Arthur :-)

[Aida Zilelian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so moved by this powerful and gritty collection of poetry. There are so many moments of quiet tragedy, unsentimental and vivid in its reflections of war, history, familial love. There is narrative wonder here and self-reflection, that brings you closer to life with pure and eloquent language.

[Sarkis Antonyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

there was a silhouette in a prose poem. there were a shit ton of windows. cities and paintings were mentioned. a silhouette in a doorway. exploration of armenian diasporic life. elegant similes. of fucking course i was going to eat this up. (was this made for me like???????)

[Dakota Marlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for my living writers class and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the mysterious storytelling and trying to piece together what happened to the painting. I also loved Kayzakian’s prose and writing style. It was simple yet very descriptive and engaging.

[Michael Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

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