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.
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(@SaqiBooks, 7 June 2021, ebook, 128 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveInc)
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I thought C+nto & Othered Poems was an incredible collection of poetry. I really loved it. I was disappointed when I finished the last poem in the collection. I could have read hundreds more. I love the way the poems explore sexuality and identity especially that of butch lesbians. I'm a lesbian, though not butch but know butch lesbians so a lot of the subject matter resonated with me. I remember when I came out my Dad asked me if I wanted to borrow his clothes. No thanks Dad, I'm gay not blind. I've been with my partner for 18 years and we still get the occasional hostile look. I felt so connected to these poems.
