Published: 01/06/2021
Exploring sexuality and protest through the lens of the butch counterculture of the 1990s, Taylor's lyrical and intimate cantos bring an era and its marginalised people to explosive prominence.
Winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize 2021
Winner of the Polari Book Prize 2022
The female body is a political space. C+nto enters the private lives of women from the butch counterculture, telling the inside story of the protests they led in the '90s to reclaim their bodies as their own - their difficult balance between survival and self-expression.History, magic, rebellion, party and sermon vibrate through Joelle Taylor's cantos to uncover these underground communities forged by women. Part-memoir and part-conjecture, Taylor explores sexuality and gender in poetry that is lyrical, expansive, imagistic, epic and intimate. C+nto is a love poem, a riot, a late night, and an honouring.
Publisher: Saqi Books
ISBN: 9781908906489
Number of pages: 98
Weight: 200 g
Dimensions: 198 x 128 x 20 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Joelle Taylor has produced one of the most astonishing and original poetry collections of recent years.' Bernardine Evaristo, New Statesman Books of the Year 2021;'A real treat ... inventive, powerfully moving work.' The Telegraph;'Visionary and powerful. I loved it.' Hollie McNish;'Absolutely incredible ... A celebration and a tribute to the dyke bars and the butches who left their mark ... This is work that should not be missed.' Diva Magazine, Book of the Month;'A reclamation and a proclamation. A book and a performance. A roll call and a remembrance. A tribute and a critique, not just for the Lesbian community, but for anyone who has had to struggle to establish their life and identity. A powerful celebration of an important culture.' Roger Robinson;'An altar of a book. Joelle Taylor has an unmatched gift as a poet, memoirist and chronicler.'Inua Ellam; 'A work of fearsome imaginative and creative reach ... sonorous and soaring poetry.'Fran Lock, Culture Matters;
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“Butch Voices are Brilliant Voices”
Joelle Taylor recently won the TS Eliot prize for poetry, and I don’t think there could have been a more deserving winner.
C+nto is truly the most powerful book a queer person will read this year. A similarly...
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“C+nto”
A wonderfully varied collection of Joelle's poetry and more. Forthright and unapologetically queer. A definite triumph and worthy winner of the T.S.Eliot prize...Philippa.
“The best poetry collection I've ever read”
Life-changing and beautiful. My favourite ever poetry collection, I re-read it regularly. Buy it!!
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