{"product_id":"afterlight-9781647692988","title":"Afterlight","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"When I wake I'm in ninth grade again,\" begins \"Reunion,\" the first poem in Caleb Nolen's debut collection \u003ci\u003eAfterlight\u003c\/i\u003e. These haunting, tender poems revisit the fraught adolescence of a group of boys growing up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Told through the voice of one of the boys who left and is later looking back, \u003ci\u003eAfterlight\u003c\/i\u003e navigates the silences left by absent fathers, early deaths, and a God who doesn't speak. Interwoven throughout are letters to saints and biblical figures: pleas for intercession and understanding that echo the speaker's search for grace amid violence and loss. By the book's end, the lost boys and the saints share the same hallowed space, their stories entwined. Written in plain, unsparing language, these poems reveal the tenderness within troubled masculinity and the ache of trying to love what has already vanished. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Caleb Nolen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Utah Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/24\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 64\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.26lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.80w x 0.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781647692988\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/27\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCaleb Nolen\u003c\/b\u003e's poems have appeared in \u003ci\u003e32 Poems\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBat City Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFence\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Georgia Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePleiades\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e and elsewhere. He holds an MFA from the University of Virginia and has received support from Blue Mountain Center and Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Caleb Nolen \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":48943863726237,"sku":"9781647692988","price":20.34,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_c5fbe450-b5e5-4281-a649-67d44e554595.jpg?v=1790152420","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/afterlight-9781647692988","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}