Description
Book SynopsisA poet of existential magnitude, deep intellect and playful subversion, America’s Nicole Sealey writes poems that are restless in their empathic, succinct examination and lucid awareness of what it means to be human.
The ranging scope of enquiry undertaken in Ordinary Beast – at times philosophical, emotional, and experiential – is evident in each thrilling twist of image by the poet. In brilliant, often ironic lines that move from meditation to matter of fact in a single beat, Sealey’s voice is always awake to the natural world, to the pain and punishment of existence, to the origins and demises of humanity. Exploring notions of race, sexuality, gender, myth, history and embodiment with profound understanding, Sealey’s is a poetry that refuses to turn a blind eye or deny. It is a poetry of daunting knowledge.
Ordinary Beast was first published in the US by Ecco in 2017, and was a finalist the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and for the PEN Open Book Award. This first UK edition of her debut collection is published by Bloodaxe in 2023 at the same time as her second book of poetry, The Ferguson Report: An Erasure, an excerpt from which won the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in 2021.
Trade ReviewOrdinary Beast showcases a versatile artist as she plumbs an array of themes – racial injustice and gender marginalization – by appropriating forms popularised by dead white guys: Plutarch, Shakespeare, Donne. Her variations are vigorous, beguiling… Ordinary Beast is a triumph, and we can look forward to future spectacular work from this extravagantly gifted poet.
-- Hamilton Cain * Leonard Prize Reviews *
Table of Contents13 medical history 14 a violence 15 candelabra with heads 17 hysterical strength 18 legendary 19 it’s not fitness, it’s a lifestyle 20 happy birthday to me 21 the first person who will live to be one hundred and fifty years old has already been born 22 in igboland ♦ 25 legendary 26 heretofore unuttered 27 and 29 cento for the night i said, “i love you” 41 virginia is for lovers 43 clue 46 c ue 49 unfurnished ♦ 53 imagine sisyphus happy 55 underperforming sonnet overperforming 56 legendary 57 an apology for trashing magazines in which you appear 59 Even the Gods 60 In Defense of “Candelabra with Heads” 61 instead of executions, think death erections 62 unframed 63 object permanence 65 Notes
