gowanus atropolis: Special Edition

Julian T. Brolaski

POETRY  | $100

January 2011
Read an excerpt

Excerpt from gowanus atropolis:

the fish begin to speak queerly
something that never will happen before
alexander the great
my contemporary
girding the neck
au quelque crossroads
wot disgorges
the libertine’s lap
n the ganymede’s hole

The language goes off by itself to be brilliant.

Alan Davies

This is the special edition of gowanus atropolis, which includes a signed and numbered copy of the book plus a letterpress broadside of an uncollected poem, numbered and signed by the author.

Gowanus atropolis is an ecopoetical exploration of the Gowanus canal in Brooklyn, a recently designated superfund site that was once a fertile fishing ground for the Canarsie Native American tribe.  The poems grapple with reconciling the toxicity of the titular Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and the east river in ‘Manahatta’ with the poet’s search for the pastoral in New York City.  A queer elegy for when language might have been prior to thought, where the phrase becomes the thought, rather than the other way around—so that the dystopic might become, if not utopic, at least measurable / pleasurable, ‘melodious offal.’ Gowanus atropolis reinscribes, as always already present, both queer and Native spaces in and around the Gowanus through a radical reshaping of English.

About the Author

Julian Talamantez Brolaski is a poet. It is the author of Advice for Lovers (City Lights), Gowanus Atropolis (UDP), and Of Mongrelitude (Wave Books), which was shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry. It is the co-editor of NO GENDER: Reflections on the Life & Work of kari edwards (Litmus Press / Belladonna Books) and the editor for its grandmother, Inés Talamantez’s book on the Mescalero Apache coming-of-age ceremony (forthcoming from University of New Mexico Press). It is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the Brooklyn-based band, Juan & the Pines, and the Oakland-based band, The Western Skyline.

Publication Details

Special Edition
Broadside. 10.5 x 8 in
Publication Date: January 28 2011
Distribution: Direct Only