Mall Water: Out now
At least once a week, from birth until my 20s, you could find me at the mall. My mind palace is a mall. Most of my dreams take place in malls. They’re where I first learned how to relate to the wider world.
My new book, Mall Water, started when I was a) thinking more about those sweet sweet implications and b) realizing how many of my poems revolved around liquids.
The result is probably my favorite thing I’ve done so far, and I’m so excited that it’s out in the world now!
It’s about malls and also not about malls. A few distinct goals for Mall Water emerged as I was putting it together:
Examine relationships between capitalism, gender, and the built environment—We make money, money makes places, places make us. You could keep going with every combination of those words. How do we come to know ourselves and each other in artificial spaces that spew information and possibility?
Create a distinctly genderfluid collection—One that treats gender fluidity not as a vehicle, or as a fun hat for cis people, but as a destination in and of itself. I was intrigued by the ways genderfluid transness can be both enmeshed with and distinct from consumption and the constructs of capitalism. Cute!
Mythologize my hypermobility—Extract some big weird lies(?) out of my connective tissues and pathologically Too Fluid Bones.
Celebrate the relationships that make dying spaces (malls, empire, the economy, the Earth, etc.) livable—For added softness 💕
Compared to BOY BAND, it’s broader in scope but has (I think) more of a narrative thread. It’s angrier, but funnier, too. I also believe I make advancements in the art of being off-putting.
It’s been so cool seeing people get their copies in the mail and start sipping/gulping/spritzing/gargling. I’m really pleased with how this book came out, including but not limited to its beautiful cover, hearty handfeel, and the care Kith Books put into it.
Here are some more nice words by people I admire a lot. I’ll affix these permanently to my mirror and read them aloud like affirmations while I slather on my daily forever chemicals:
To everyone who’s bought a copy (or 3) already: thank you so much. Let me know what parts you like, what parts make you cackle, what parts make you put it down and step outside.
To everyone who hasn’t: there’s still time!
Gaza Funds
Finally, I wanted to share this site I’ve been using lately. Gaza Funds is a direct aid aggregator that spins up a different GoFundMe (based on various prioritization criteria) each time you visit. If you only have $15 and are like “do I buy Mall Water or help this Palestinian family,” PLEASE DO THE LATTER.
xoxo