apparitions (nines) : Nat Raha & friends

Injecting the disruptive potential of collective action into the body of the poem, Nat Raha’s invigorating experiment resuscitates Anglophone poetry.

We had an electric preview of this new collection at Book Fringe and trust us, this is a poetry night not to be missed!

Amidst the violence of capitalism and state and imperial power, there is Nat Raha’s apparitions (nines) in its “charred golden minidress,” ushering us into a space of grief and resistance, the embodiment and intimacy of queer, trans, and diasporic Black and brown people. Written as a series of  “niners,” a poetic form consisting of nine nine-syllable lines, apparitions (nines) is at once a brash and subversive rejoinder to the Anglophone sonnet, as well as an ode to beauty, collectivity, and tenderness which emerges from—and far surpasses—constraint.

And if all that wasn't enough, Nat's readings will be accompanied by performances from the following illustrious trio: Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Mohammed Tonsy and Cassandra Troyan.

“Welcome the poems that split us open, ‘frequencies/ to be removed from the air.’ Nat Raha has sharpened the lines, their serrated letters leaving us marked, poems to touch again on the skin, feel our doom undo its direction for enduring solidarity; the best love.” -CAConrad