{"product_id":"a-shiver-in-the-leaves","title":"A Shiver in the Leaves","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNestled against the backdrop of Seattle's flora, fauna, and cityscape, Lue Hughes' debut poetry collection wrestles with the interior and exterior symbiosis of a gay Black man finding refuge from the threat of depression and death through love and desire.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHughes draws readers into a Seattle that is heavily entrenched in violent anti-Blackness, and full of vulnerable and personal encounters from both the speaker’s past and present. With reverent and careful imagery, Hughes fashions deeply saturated, tender vignettes that reckon relationships between family and friends, lovers, nature, and the police-state.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Shiver in the Leaves \u003c\/i\u003eis stunningly cinematic in its layered portrayal of the never-ending dualities of a queer Black poet’s life in the city. Hughes's interrogation of selfhood renders a sharply intimate and viscerally powerful reimagining of what it means to be alive in a body, and what it can mean \u003ci\u003eto live\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eA Shiver in the Leaves\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\"It’s hard to believe that this is Luther Hughes’ debut poetry collection, but his commitment to craft, and the poetry world in general, is nothing new. He does it all, as a writer, editor, podcaster, founder of Shade Literary Arts, and of course, practitioner of this particular art. Is it fair to say that I can’t wait for his next collection when this one is so new?\" \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cstrong\u003eMandana Chaffa, for Chicago Review of Books\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Brutality and tenderness intertwine in this collection, which illuminates the inner life of a young gay Black man navigating desire, depression, family, and faith. Although the poems are haunted by historical and contemporary violence, they are also often rapturous, revelling in the pleasures of nature and of the body.\" —\u003cstrong\u003eThe New Yorker's Best Books of 2022\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“This is a book of hope, of triumph, even as each day that we wake is a triumph over how things might have been otherwise. ‘Look at all my colors,’ Hughes says, reminding us that black contains \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eall \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ecolors, is in that way its own abundance. That abundance includes the erotic, the familial, relationships variously sought and regretted, relationships with others as much as with ourselves, the self as an ever-restless interior of light and shadow. That abundance includes, as well, the hard-won poems of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eA Shiver in the Leaves\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, whose music is finally, beautifully, brutally, Hughes’s own.” \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cstrong\u003eCarl Phillips, from the \u003cem\u003eForeword\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“Luther Hughes’ debut poetry collection resounds with longing—for love, for tenderness, and most of all for mercy. ‘Hunger declares itself,’ and despite his speaker’s attempts to lose himself, despite becoming, for a time, a space where others can be lost, he finds himself, and in so doing is found. Achingly vulnerable, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eA Shiver in the Leaves\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e reminds us that ‘\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIt’s never enough to love a thing, \/ you must do the work, too\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e,’ and we hold some measure of our own salvation in our hands.” \u003c\/span\u003e—\u003cstrong\u003eDonika Kelly, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Renunciations\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eIn Seattle\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhat can I say? I forget all their names.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIt was bound to happen. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEverything leaves\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethe wet mouth of rain, the throat that threw, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIt\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e’\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003es never enough to love a thing\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eyou must do the work\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e too\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eexcept the trees that, in this city,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ebecome an emerald rush of hands reaching out. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHow many times must it be said? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThere is [blood] parading the streets\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, I reply.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThe market bricks with whirs and wears \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethe violent churning of noise on its lips like balm. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eI drink a cup of coffee, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003esitting on a bench overlooking The Sound. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThere is so much blue.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42485464105189,"sku":"","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/products\/AShiverFinalSmall.jpg?v=1644944167","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/products\/a-shiver-in-the-leaves","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}