{"product_id":"beforelight","title":"Beforelight","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cb style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eBeforelight\u003c\/i\u003e explores queer childhood as a site of rupture and queer coming-of-age as a process of both becoming and unbecoming. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eWith wisdom and grace, the speaker in these poems confronts the impacts of fragmented relationships and trauma on his nascent identity, ultimately committing to the self's authenticity as the highest form of devotion. Lush, cinematic, and deeply psychological, these poems grapple with the fragility of our most formative connections—familial, communal, and ancestral—as the speaker searches for communion with himself and tries to discover how not to “make a life out of pain.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eBeforelight\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“In\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e Beforelight\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, Matthew Gellman’s astonishing and sensitive début collection, family narratives unfold with the clarity and mystery of a photo album. Illuminating the brutal silences and blanketing snows of the suburbs, Gellman’s poems make the world of memory startlingly intimate and alive.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Richie Hofmann, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Hundred Lovers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“The poems in Matthew Gellman's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBeforelight\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e radiate with tenderness and desire, speaking evocatively from \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethe starless heat of our mouths\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e and from the glowing embers of queer quotidian life. His poetry illuminates the contours of filial, sibling, and sexual bonds revealing at the core of his work a finely wrought portrait of a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eboy with apertures \/ yielding more apertures flourishing red and agape.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Deborah Paredez, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eYear of the Dog\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e“I am moved and startled by the intensity of\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e Beforelight\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, which is bent on retrospection, and profound in its careful examination of the family and the ways we are both beholden to and estranged from them.  These poems also give voice to the necessity of declaring one’s individuality, and in doing so, they combine sophisticated, psychological insight with rich, original musicality.  This is a daring, memorable new voice in American poetry, and a spellbinding debut.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Mark Wunderlich, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGod of Nothingness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44435344752869,"sku":"","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/files\/Beforelight_Final_3.jpg?v=1701108156","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/products\/beforelight","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}