![]() This isn’t a broadly political collection, but a deeply personal one. From a white woman saying the n-word when singing along to “black / Modern American music” to the fetishisation of the black male body, Hayes uses the sonnet form to explore micro-aggressions in Trump’s America. ![]() The two words seem a little oxymoronic when put together- what can poetry do to affect policy? But Hayes isn’t writing ‘political poetry’, he’s writing poetry inflected by politics. I’m not normally one for political poetry. But because it was Terrance Hayes writing, I was interested. I was reading more than enough about Trump in the news to want to read more about him in poetry. I read somewhere that Hayes was writing a sonnet a day for the duration of Trump’s presidency. I should clarify: each time it changes, it gets better.Īfter reading Hayes’ two previous books, How To Be Drawn and the National Book Award winning Lighthead, I eagerly anticipated his next collection. Since then, I’ve dipped in and out of it at random and each time something about American Sonnets seems to change. I read the book cover to cover in one sitting when it came out in June. ![]() I’ve been trying to write a review of Terrance Hayes’ American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin all summer. Terrance Hayes | American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin | Penguin, £9.99 ![]()
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