BY JOANNA C. VALENTE
Everything has been disrupted this year, and the book world is no exception. While it can feel hard to have a new release come out during a time of global crisis, let’s remember that in some ways, there is no better time. We need books and art more than ever right now, to guide us, to support us, to show us a way forward - and to ground us in the present.
Check out these 2020 releases below (and don’t forget to check these prior 2020 roundups, here, here, here, and here):
My Safe Word Is Harder (Really Serious Literature, 2020) - McKenna Clarke
Clarke’s debut book of poetry is a modern exploration on love, being, and sexuality in the digital landscape that often intersects in our physical lives in strange ways. What is, of course, the difference at this point, when our virtual worlds are our lives?
A poem from the book:
The Gold Boys Are Back in Town (Really Serious Literature, 2020) - C.C. Hannett and Joshua Robert Long
This collaborative collection is simply fun, and dazzling in how it creates this integral dialogue between how we live and survive in a capitalist society that feels like an endless video game loop where no one seems to be really winning. The poems engage in the political through a pop culture lens that makes it both relatable and funny.
An excerpt:
Blue Light of the Screen: On Horror, Ghosts, and God (Repeater, forthcoming, October 13, 2020) - Claire Cronin
Cronin’s memoir through horror films is not only incredibly unique, but it’s fun, entertaining, and relatable. As someone who loves horror movies, it fascinated me to witness Cronin’s relationships to the movie and the genre, which then caused me to reflect on that relationship with myself. In that way, it creates a fantastic, interactive experience. The illustrations are also an added bonus.
An excerpt:
Traces (Ursus Americanus Press, 2020) - Robert Balun
This collection of poetry is exactly what the title refers: a trace of being, of language, of idea, of breath. Balun gives us glimpses into a liminal world that we inhabit for a time, a spirit out of body. I love art like this - art that makes me feel weightless and out of time.
An excerpt:
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. They are the author of several collections, including Marys of the Sea, #Survivor, (2020, The Operating System), Killer Bob: A Love Story (2021, Vegetarian Alcoholic Press), and is the editor of A Shadow Map: Writing by Survivors of Sexual Assault. Joanna is the founder of Yes Poetry and the senior managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine. Some of their writing has appeared in The Rumpus, Them, Brooklyn Magazine, BUST, and elsewhere. joannavalente.com / Twitter: @joannasaid / IG: joannacvalente / FB: joannacvalente