GLOW OF OUR SWEAT
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select critical commentary:
“I would claim that Francisco Aragón’s new collection of poems, Glow of Our Sweat, attempts to deal with these complicated intersections between the aesthetics of sentimentality and queerness. His poems provide a sentimental vision that never becomes cloying. The self-monitoring within the poems themselves and the book as a whole is a successful, unpretentious enterprise.”
--Steve Fellner, Pansy Poetics “But is this the final act for Aragón? The last time he has to come out? The references to running that he weaves through Part II suggests the answer is no. Aragón was an avid runner; he explains that moments after finishing a race, his mind was already asking which race he would run next. The subtext here is subtle but powerful: every time we come out we cross a figurative finish line, knowing, however, there will be many other ‘races’ to challenge or test our endurance.”
--Richard Blanco, Lambda Literary |
buy Glow of Our Sweat
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select reviews of Glow of Our Sweat:
"Coming out is a process as endless as its audiences, Francisco Aragón aptly quotes Kenji Yoshino in Glow of Our Sweat (Scapegoat Press), Aragón’s latest book, which is really two books in one."
-Richard Blanco, Lambda Literary | Read Full Review
-Richard Blanco, Lambda Literary | Read Full Review
"A first glance through the pages of Francisco Aragón’s Glow of Our Sweat may give the impression that the author simply pulled random works from old files, gave the manuscript a new title and sent it off to the printer. Of course, the reality is something very different. In this work, Aragón has combined poems with prose, and new translations with original work."
-Don Cellini, Gently Read Literature | Read Full Review
-Don Cellini, Gently Read Literature | Read Full Review
"Francisco Aragón’s Glow of our Sweat (Scapegoat Press, 2010) explores the themes of sexuality, geography, memory, and translation. Interestingly, Aragón brings together original lyric poems, translations, experimental translations, and a nonfiction prose essay. In an “Author ’s Note,” Aragón describes his assemblage as “poetry in conversation with prose” that aspires to be a community where multiple voices “mingle, converse, commiserate.”
-Craig Santos Perez, Jacket 2 | Read Full Review
-Craig Santos Perez, Jacket 2 | Read Full Review
"Sentimentality can often be a scary thing--I think for gay men it may be downright terrifying. By publicly fawning over a loved one, even if it is welcome and deserved, you fear that you may come off as cute. And who's going to be intimidated into giving marriage rights to people who are simply cute?.”
-Steve Fellner, Pansy Poetics | Read Full Review
-Steve Fellner, Pansy Poetics | Read Full Review
interview on Glow of our Sweat | Read Full Interview