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In pursuit of his brother, a man traverses the fantastical and grotesque landscape of Hell, pondering their now fractured relationship.
About the author
Dustin Pearson is the author of three poetry collections: A Season in Hell with Rimbaud (BOA, 2022), A Family Is a House (C&R Press, 2019), and Millennial Roost (C&R Press, 2018). His poems have been featured in Bennington Review, Blackbird, Hobart, The Literary Review, The Nation, Poetry Northwest, Poem-a-Day, Saranac Review, TriQuarterly, Vinyl Poetry, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of the 2015 Katherine C. Turner Award and the 2019 John Mackay Shaw Award from the Academy of American Poets, as well as fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, The Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, and The Anderson Center at Tower View. . In 2020, a film adaptation of his poem “The Flame in Mother’s Mouth” won Best Collaboration at the Cadence Video Poetry Festival. Pearson holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Arizona State University and a M.A. and B.A. in English from Clemson University, where he specialized in Ethnic American literature. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in creative writing at Florida State University. He lives in Summerville, SC.
Summary
In pursuit of his brother, a man traverses the fantastical and grotesque landscape of Hell, pondering their now fractured relationship.
Foreword
Digital galleys available on Edelweiss+ approximately 5-6 months prior to publication.
Advanced review copies and press materials will be sent to a targeted list of 120-150 reviewers in February 2022. Additional ARCs available by request: contact@boaeditions.org.
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National advertising: Poets & Writers, American Poets, and the Academy of American Poets newsletter.
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Buy-ins to relevant academic conferences, trade shows, and relevant publications. Currently considering: American Library Association Annual Meeting, CBSD Sales and Academic catalogs, etc.
Spring book announcements submitted to Publishers Weekly.
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Simultaneous audiobook release is currently under discussion with the author. BOA will update the sales kit accordingly if an audiobook edition will be released for this title.
Promotion through author’s website: https://dustinkpearson.com.
Additional text
“‘You can lose
your brother to Hell/ and still be happy inside your house,’ begins one of
Pearson's striking and unforgettable poems. Pearson is at once metaphysical and
allegorical. While summoning Rimbaud's symbolism poetics, he creates a voice
uniquely his own, with questions of brotherhood, performative masculinity, and
the horrors and vulnerabilities of our mortal bodies. There are many rooms to
open in each of Pearson's poems. A Season In Hell With
Rimbaud is a rich and thorough
collection. Each time the speaker's brother is addressed, a history of violence
and traumas that the brother has been subjected to in Hell is simultaneously
summoned. But is hell another dimension, an internal space, an external space,
or is it right here on earth? Pearson keeps reminding us that, ‘The house has
many rooms,’ and we find meaning inside and out of each real, imagined and
metaphysical space. What a poetic accomplishment this is!”
—Raymond Antrobus
