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The Lyric Essay as Resistance: Truth from the Margins
Lyric essayists draw on memoir, poetry, and prose to push against the arbitrary genre restrictions in creative nonfiction, opening up space not only for new forms of writing, but also new voices and a new literary canon. This anthology features some of the best lyric essays published in the last several years by prominent and emerging writers. Editors Zoë Bossiere and Erica Trabold situate this anthology within the ongoing work of resistance-to genre convention, literary tradition, and the confines of dominant-culture spaces. As sites of resistance, these essays are diverse and include investigations into deeply personal and political topics such as queer and trans identity, the American BIPOC experience, reproductive justice, belonging, grief, and more.
The lyric essay is always surprising; it is bold, unbound, and free. This collection highlights the lyric essay's natural capacity for representation and resistance and celebrates the form as a subversive genre that offers a mode of expression for marginalized voices. The Lyric Essay as Resistance features contemporary work by essayists including Melissa Febos, Wendy S. Walters, Torrey Peters, Jenny Boully, Crystal Wilkinson, Elissa Washuta, Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, and many more. Their work demonstrates the power of the lyric essay to bring about change, both on the page and in our communities.
The lyric essay is always surprising; it is bold, unbound, and free. This collection highlights the lyric essay's natural capacity for representation and resistance and celebrates the form as a subversive genre that offers a mode of expression for marginalized voices. The Lyric Essay as Resistance features contemporary work by essayists including Melissa Febos, Wendy S. Walters, Torrey Peters, Jenny Boully, Crystal Wilkinson, Elissa Washuta, Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, and many more. Their work demonstrates the power of the lyric essay to bring about change, both on the page and in our communities.
224 pages, Paperback
Published March 21, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 20, 2023
I went to a panel at AWP that was hosted by the editors of this book, & heard several contributors read. It was a captivating panel & I eagerly picked up the book. I was not disappointed. The depth & variety of voices & structures in this book was compelling & each essay made me think (not surprising considering that some of the best writers working today are in it). If you’re a writer, I highly recommend for the craft of it, & if you’re seeking many perspectives & deep thinking, this is the collection for you.
June 3, 2024
some of these had me on the fucking FLOOR fr
January 22, 2024
I am extremely extremely impressed with this collection, grounded in a fantastic, accessible introduction and featuring predominately femme voices and all sorts of forms that prove lyric essays are in fact, an exercise in relishing in the emptiness or absence of clear timelines or images and encourage us to read again and again to interrogate more meaning and self-reflect on the points in which we are not granted or entitled to access. Interesting to see how the delivery of lyric essay form translates to contributor’s long form works (love u melissa febos and jessica lind peterson). Standout essays for me were “Apocalypse Logic” “Words First Seen in Print” “Becoming” “Annotating the First Page” and “The Dry Season”
January 13, 2024
This collection of essays plays with form in some interesting ways and is filled with heartfelt pieces that serve as both a reminder that your own experience is not the experience of everyone and an invitation to gain empathy and understanding for others
February 26, 2024
Really incredible anthology! Read for ENGL 555
June 20, 2023
A great "sampler" of the lyric essay form. Love this description in the intro: "This form-between-forms seemed to ignore the conventions of prose writing ... in favor of embracing more liminal styles, moving by association rather than story, dancing around unspoken truths, devolving into a swirling series of digressions." (p. 2)
April 1, 2024
While I do not necessarily love all entries in The Lyric Essay as Resistance equally, Zoë Bossiere and Erica Trabold present a powerful introduction combined with a fine menagerie that exemplifies what lyric essays are capable of when they focus on marginalized voices. The three entries that linger with me the most are 1) Krys Malcolm Belc’s “Words First Seen in Print in 1987, According to Merriam-Webster,” 2) Camellia-Berry Grass’s “Architectural Survey Form: 902 Sunset Strip,” and 3) Torrey Peters’s “Transgender Day of Remembrance: A Found Essay.”
September 22, 2023
Ordered this even before I listened to the 2023 AWP panel and I knew I was onto something of magnitude, even before I turned the first page. An incredible collection showcasing the wide ranging definitions of “lyric essay,” full of truth and story woven in different images. A beautiful source of inspiration to explore a form that is difficult to contain in a single explanation.
April 19, 2023
Fantastic, important work—full review forthcoming somewhere.
March 18, 2024
Great collection of lyric essays!!
July 26, 2024
Some powerful essays that experiment with many different forms.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews