Stay, Illusion – Lucie Brock-Broido
This collection is my bible, I pray to. The oddity of her word choice, and the juxtapositions held together in so many of her images. So strange and magical.
I’m Ok, I’m Pig – Kim Hyesoon, Translated by Don Mee Choi
This is compromised of excerpted poems from several of Hyesoon’s books. Such intimate poems, often interested in the crass and with unpredictable imagination.
On the Tracks of Wild Game – Tomaž Šalamun, Translated by Sonja Kravanja
What a page turner. So much breathe and energy in these poems. I just wanted to keep moving and running with the lines. There are several long poems and the book was written in just a few weeks, suprisingly.
Selected Poems: Vladimir Mayakovsky, Translated by James H. McGavran III
Snarky, punchy, very political. Such beautiful forms in this book. It’s a bit long and so I let it down and then pick it up often.
Mucus in My Pineal Gland – Juliana Huxtable
Fucccck. This book has such a good memory of the every day particulars that exists now and in the past and will exists in the future. By which I mean, there is Hot Topic and Xanga accounts, and queer/trans theory and the whole world’s possibilities in this book. So expansive to the genre of poetry in language and form and more.
Christopher Soto is a poet living in Los Angeles. For more information visit christophersoto-poet.com.