Chasers

by Stephen Ira

Do you like the beach, or beaches? Have you experienced problems with trans men? Are you worried about love poetry? Are you trans? Is someone else nearby trans? How nearby? Do you like Chris Berntsen? Have you ever fallen in love with him before, or watched someone else do so? Do you want to chase him endlessly into the swirling Tiber? Do you want to read a short novella in verse set in the trans planetary districts of New York and New Orleans about falling in love with the photographer, the multimedia artist, the circumgender Nan Goldin of Bushwick, Chris B? Do you ask yourself, when the poet places the love poem between herself and the lover, is she failing to take responsibility for the small world she has created, the one that's operating in those moments when the love poem is a world and not a lasso or a barrier? A finalist for the New Michigan Press/DIAGRAM chapbook contest, Stephen Ira's Chasers is gorgeous.

Genres: Poetry

52 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2022

About the author

Stephen Ira is a poet, critic, filmmaker, and performer. He lives in New York.

Stephen’s poetry and prose have appeared in venues like Fence, DIAGRAM, the Poetry Project Newsletter, TSQ*Now, Poetry, and tagvverk. He’s curated readings at places like the Brooklyn Rail, New York Live Arts, and BGSQD. In 2019, he received an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. In 2013, he was a Lambda Literary Fellow. During his time as a poetry editor at the speculative magazine Strange Horizons, it was nominated for a Hugo Award.

Reviews

[Sarah Schulman]

Equal part celebration and abjection. Also could be titled "Reader" because so deeply literary. A slow read. Lots of specificity about trans life - deliberate content, but formerly diverse. A thoughtful book.

[Simón · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the Sealey Challenge so it was a bit rushed. I'm always curious about trans embodiment.