The English poets that represnt queer history are nothing more than a scattering of odd seeds from English poetry: Douglas, Owen, Brooke and Auden's over anthologised "Funeral Blues," made popular via Four Weddings and a Funeral. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Queer Poems, edited by Andrew McMillan and Mary Jean Chan, features work from 20th-century poets as well as contemporary LGBTQ+ voices.

In their joint Introduction Andrew McMillan discusses the strategy used in curating this collection: “The last time an anthology like this one came out from a trade publisher was almost four decades ago. Norman Erikson Pasaribu, whose poem Curriculum Vitae is in the book, said it was “dreamlike” to be able to work with McMillan and Chan, and that they felt moved to have space given to “my voice, to my little poem”. Some of my favorites from this collection include "Afterwards" by Carola Luther, "Philomela: Nest building" by Seni Seneviratne, "Reasons for Staying" by Ocean Vuong, and "Shake My Future" by Dorothea Smartt. As the disclaimers say, the authors hope for this book to be a starting point in the journey of queer literature and authors. And while most of the new acquaintances you make are exciting and leave you curious to spend more time with them, you’ll also just fail to connect with others.

Pasaribu though, said the last thing they’d do is worry “about how hetero people see me or my writing. Later, McMillan states they hope perhaps this anthology might offer the same comfort and inspiration to people who might not otherwise have realised there is a queer space where they can fit in, be comfortable, be comforted. Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Jean Chan, Andrew McMillan and Vintage for this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

In a way that is a shame because poetry comes in many styles, forms, rhymes, metrical patterns (or the lack thereof of one or all of these), and we should never dismiss something simply because it doesn't appear to conform with our own ideas. In this context, then, the release of 100 Queer Poems feels long overdue: it is modern, expansive, disruptive and diverse in ways that The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse simply … uh isn’t (although it might well have been at the time).All in all, I did enjoy the anthology as a collection of poems and, if I still have life left in me, look forward to their implicated follow-up anthology in 10 years time. His second collection, playtime , won the inaugural Polari Prize, and his most recent collection is pandemonium . Three months before he was born the Romanian dictator and his wife were executed before a firing squad. the only slight criticism i have is i would love the inclusion of the pronouns of the poets, as i would hate to misgender them. By mixing in modern poets with some more traditional poets the collection manages to create a conversation with our conception of the Canon and widen it, enhance it, and subtly change it.