Bread and Circus by Airea D. Matthews was published yesterday by Scribner. This inventive, searing, and political treatise-in-poetry uses erasure techniques to transform texts by Adam Smith (author of The Wealth of Nations) and Guy Debord (Marxist philosopher). These work of these heady, intellectuals are juxtaposed with Matthew’s personal poems where everything is at stake. There is no erasure in the intimate vignettes Matthew gives us, economic hardship often at the forefront. There is violence within the childhood home, more violence as an adult facing the police brutality that haunts our present day America. Here is a sample poem:
https://www.vqronline.org/poetry/2021/06/ars-poetica-1979
Congratulations, Airea!
Powerful poem (and that cover is also striking).
Posted by: Terence Winch | June 03, 2023 at 09:40 AM
But -- speaking of bread versus cake -- Which is which?
Posted by: Beth Tenny | June 04, 2023 at 08:04 PM