boy maybe by W.J. Lofton - ISBN: 9780807017821
Paperback
Black queer Southern poems confront grief, love, and unfreedom in America.

boy maybe

poems

$33.12

  • Paperback

    112 pages

  • Release Date

    29 April 2025

Check Delivery Options

Summary

51 achingly eloquent poems from a young Cave Canem fellow.

W. J. Lofton’s verses explore Black queer Southern identity, grief, love, and intimacy while enduring and witnessing unfreedom in America. W. J. Lofton writes vivid, accessible poems that channel the energy, urgency, ambitions, joys, and sorrows of a young Black queer artist. They are about love and flirtation, sweet tea and hot sauce, God and family, life and death, police brutality and extrajudicial killings. His verses hono…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780807017821
ISBN-10:0807017825
Author:W.J. Lofton
Publisher:Beacon Press
Imprint:Beacon Press
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:112
Release Date:29 April 2025
Weight:369g
Dimensions:216mm x 140mm
Series:Raised Voices
What They're Saying

Critics Review

“A museum of exactitudes, with lines so precise that you never forget them … Enchanting and provocative.”
—Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Tradition

boy maybe touches my heart with its soft, honest lyrics and shakes me up with its brilliant singing… . Here, in this poet’s shining language, is a country where we are possible.”
—Danez Smith, Lambda Award–winning author of [insert] Boy

boy maybe refuses to compromise on the fullest, freest expressions of Black queer aliveness. I am so moved and emboldened by this work.”
—Chen Chen, author of When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities

“Beautiful … Seamless and evocative … This is a new illuminating call for liberation. I cannot speak highly enough of this voice.”
—Raymond Antrobus, Ted Hughes Award–winning author of The Perseverance

“I’m astonished at boy maybe… . Read this breathing book and be reminded where God is.”
—K. Iver, author of Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco

About The Author

W.J. Lofton

W. J. Lofton, a Chicago-born poet and multimodal artist, is the author of A Garden for Black Boys Between the Stages of Soil and Stardust. His work explores the intersections of race, class, and gender while focusing on Black queer men’s attempts at intimacy and the tensions and wonders of boyhood. Lofton has received fellowships from Cave Canem and Emory University. A recipient of Ava DuVernay’s LEAP Grant, his work has appeared in TIME, wildness, Obsidian, and Scalawag. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he co-curates Rebellion- A Writing Salon.

Returns

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.