Mess and Mess and

Douglas Kearney writes, "If my writing makes a mess of things, it's not to flee understanding, but to map (mis-)understanding as a verb." The map's guide is MESS AND MESS AND, in which Kearney defines the terms that member his poetics, taking even prefixes as a call for semantic inquiry. Within are essays that explore "the Negrotesque," gloss specific poems and poetry collections, the inspirations (from life, literature, and otherwise) he drew upon when putting his pen to the page--as well as studies and drafts from his journals. Simultaneously playful and cutting, Kearney's collection interrogates that which inspires, troubles, and recurs in his work, the mess(es) there.

Author: Douglas Kearney
Publisher: Noemi Press
Published: 01/01/2015
Pages: 110
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.90w x 0.30d
ISBN: 9781934819517


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/07/2016

About the Author
Douglas Kearney has published seven poetry collections, including SHO (Wave 2021), which was a finalist for the National Book Award, PEN Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and BUCK STUDIES (Fence Books, 2016), winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Award, the CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry, and the California Book Award silver medal for poetry. M. NourbeSe Philip calls Kearney's collection of libretti, SOMEONE TOOK THEY TONGUES. (Subito, 2016), "a seismic, polyphonic mash-up." Kearney's MESS AND MESS AND (Noemi Press, 2015), was a Small Press Distribution Handpicked Selection that Publisher's Weekly called "an extraordinary book." He has received a Whiting Writer's Award, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Cy Twombly Award for Poetry, residencies/fellowships from Cave Canem, The Rauschenberg Foundation, and others. Kearney teaches Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities and lives in St. Paul with his family.