American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin

THE SUNDAY TIMES POETRY BOOK OF THE YEAR 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE T. S. ELIOT PRIZE 
 
The black poet would love to say his century began 
With Hughes or God forbid, Wheatley, but actually 
It began with all the poetry weirdos &amp; worriers, warriors, 
Poetry whiners &amp; winos falling from ship bows, sunset 
Bridges &amp; windows. In a second I'll tell you how little 
Writing rescues. 
 
So begins this astonishing, muscular sequence by one of America's best-selling and most acclaimed poets. Over 70 poems, each titled 'American Sonnet for my Past and Future Assassin' and shot through with the vernacular energy of popular culture, Terrance Hayes manoeuvres his way between touching domestic visions, stories of love, loss and creation, tributes to the fallen and blistering denunciations of the enemies of the good. 
 
American Sonnets builds a living picture of the whole self, and the whole human, even as it opens to the view the dividing lines of race, gender and political oppression which define the early 21st Century. It is compassionate, hilarious, melancholy, bewildered - and unstoppably, rhythmically compelling, as few books can hope to be.

The black poet would love to say his century began 
With Hughes or God forbid, Wheatley, but actually 
It began with all the poetry weirdos &amp; worriers, warriors, 
Poetry whiners &amp; winos falling from ship bows, sunset 
Bridges &amp; windows. In a second I'll tell you how little 
Writing rescues. 
 
So begins this astonishing, muscular sequence by one of America's best-selling and most acclaimed poets. Over seventy poems, each titled 'American Sonnet for my Past and Future Assassin' and shot through with the vernacular energy of popular culture, Terrance Hayes manoeuvres his way between touching domestic visions, stories of love, loss and creation, tributes to the fallen and blistering denunciations of the enemies of the good. 
 
American Sonnets builds a living picture of the whole self, and the whole human, even as it opens to the view the dividing lines of race, gender and political oppression which define the early 21st century. It is compassionate, hilarious, melancholy, bewildered - and unstoppably, rhythmically compelling, as few books can hope to be.

Terrance Hayes

Hayes is a maestro of poetic forms and these poems sing with a musical dexterity that embraces vulnerability and ambiguity . . . So to Speak reads like an ambitious mixed-media project questioning the role of art in representing suffering . . . Soul-searching questions ripple through a series of electrifying American Sonnets about James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Octavia E Butler, Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone, reimagining the works and voices of many black cultural icons.

Hayes’ poems never fail to play, thrillingly, with the constraints of form, and they engage with culture, past and present, while remaining deeply rooted in the personal. Don’t miss this one.

Hayes’ new work is as vital and energetic as ever, but there’s also a new tone in many places here—penitent, self-inculpatory. These are the poems of a certain age: scars so old others must tell you how they are made. Hayes’ invention allows his poetry to house almost anything: from the political to the sensual, from a magic goat to a talking cat. He is a singular poet, and this book a singular achievement.

These are pieces that fuse trauma and humor, erudition and silliness in ways that somehow preserve those disparate qualities

Like the great composers and musicians—like Thelonious and Miles, like Bach—Hayes is ever witty and elegant. His concerns are unexpected and yet right on time. His verse is so close to music, you’ll wonder if you’re reading words or notes. Solemnly elegiac and brokenheartedly playful, So to Speak is poetry of pure genius.

Across three various and virtuosic sections, Hayes examines the personal and public, from fatherhood to the murder of George Floyd, in his muscular and meditative seventh collection. With a masterful eye for image and description . . . Hayes’s writing unfolds musically and dynamically . . . These original, ruminative poems showcase one of the most rightly acclaimed poets writing today.

[A] polyphonic, multivalent collection of poetry . . . Hayes' role as an oracle of the auricular remains remarkable . . . The poet's nimble knowledge of music and visual arts is notable . . . Throughout, Hayes continues to stretch the limits of language and explore the far regions of English, while his formal experimentation shines . . . May this poet's brilliance always shine.

Terrance Hayes

Praise for So To Speak

Hayes is a maestro of poetic forms and these poems sing with a musical dexterity that embraces vulnerability and ambiguity . . . So to Speak reads like an ambitious mixed-media project questioning the ...

Hayes’ poems never fail to play, thrillingly, with the constraints of form, and they engage with culture, past and present, while remaining deeply rooted in the personal. Don’t miss this one.

Hayes’ new work is as vital and energetic as ever, but there’s also a new tone in many places here—penitent, self-inculpatory. These are the poems of a certain age: scars so old others must tell you how they ...

Hayes is a maestro of poetic forms and these poems sing with a musical dexterity that embraces vulnerability and ambiguity . . . So to Speak reads like an ambitious mixed-media project questioning the ...

Hayes’ poems never fail to play, thrillingly, with the constraints of form, and they engage with culture, past and present, while remaining deeply rooted in the personal. Don’t miss this one.

Hayes’ new work is as vital and energetic as ever, but there’s also a new tone in many places here—penitent, self-inculpatory. These are the poems of a certain age: scars so old others must tell you how they ...

Hayes is a maestro of poetic forms and these poems sing with a musical dexterity that embraces vulnerability and ambiguity . . . So to Speak reads like an ambitious mixed-media project questioning the ...

Hayes’ poems never fail to play, thrillingly, with the constraints of form, and they engage with culture, past and present, while remaining deeply rooted in the personal. Don’t miss this one.

Hayes’ new work is as vital and energetic as ever, but there’s also a new tone in many places here—penitent, self-inculpatory. These are the poems of a certain age: scars so old others must tell you how they ...

Books by Terrance Hayes

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