Natalie Wee

Arsenal Pulp has become one of my favorite publishers, and when I was looking at their spring releases, I knew I needed to pre-order this one. The cover already had me set up for an easy sell, but then the blurb had phrases like "familial hauntings and cultural histories," "glittery queer love," "folklore speaks back as a radical tool of survival," and "inexhaustible ferocity."

This book absolutely did not disappoint.

I was already five-starring this in my brain with a long list of favorite show more poems noted that I wanted to return to, when halfway through the collection I arrived at "Wei Ying Tells Me About Resurrection" and !!! Wei Ying brainspace already has my heart half-flayed open AND THEN IT CUTS FURTHER. "Choose a hell of your own making over the hell that unmakes you." Insert keysmash of overwhelming emotion here.

AND THEN THAT ISN'T EVEN MY FAVORITE POEM IN THE COLLECTION. That place being currently held by "Listen I Love You Joy is Coming." "How much of the world must we pass through to arrive at ourselves?" with its nods to the new ways we found to show care for each other in the pandemic.

I always say I will reread collections but rarely do, but this one I WILL. show less

The incredible collection of poetry. Themes include queer love and desire; pop culture; immigration; racism and being othered; pets and plants; diaspora; myth and folklore; parenthood and childbirth.

Intertextual in nature, the poems often explicitly reference other poet's work, from Sappho to Ocean Vuong, as well as musicians including Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers.Her word choice is often delightfully uncanny, making mundane words strange and wonderful in their unexpected use.

An unflinching show more shapeshifter, Beast at Every Threshold dances between familial hauntings and cultural histories, intimate hungers and broader griefs. Memories become malleable, pop culture provides a backdrop to glittery queer love, and folklore speaks back as a radical tool of survival.Wee has a talent for clever line breaks that appear to end on one word only to supply the second part of the word on the next line, changing the meaning as you first read it.

#Poetry #LGBT #Queer #Fiction
#Contemporary #Canada #ShortStories #AsianLiterature
#LiteraryFiction #QueerLit show less