Martian

Description

Winner of the 2021 Academy of American Poets James Laughlin Award
 
A blistering exploration of America’s legacy of anti-Black violence from an indispensable poet of our time
American history got you down? Are you feeling alienated? Join poet James Cagney in his blistering second collection, Martian: The Saint of Loneliness, as he journeys through time, space, and memory with caustic, satirical beauty. Recall American history through its spent shell casings! Turn familial ghosts into art valuable for generations! In these fully charged poems, James Cagney storms through American fields blooming with artillery and anger on his thirsty quest for love, peace, and acceptance, in the smallest, most precious gestures. JAMES CAGNEY was born in Oakland, California in 1968. He studied writing and poetry independently, via the public library, workshops, and the abundant open mic scene in the Bay Area. Cagney is a Cave Canem fellow and has performed in many venues, museums, and programs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Sacramento, Vancouver, Chicago, and Seattle. He is the author of Black Steel Magnolias In The Hour of Chaos Theory, winner of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, and his newest book, MARTIAN: The Saint of Loneliness, is the winner of the 2021 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. US