If This Makes You Nervous

Elena Karina Byrnes' fourth collection of poems pays tribute to her art-immersed upbringing, creating a dialogue between the speaker and sixty-six artists. The poems are political and personal, mapping out the author's emotional, spatial, and gender orientations within our visual culture. They explore longing and loss, leading the reader on winding paths that balance beauty and terror.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 96 pages
Publication date: 02 November 2021
Publisher: Omnidawn Publishing

Elena Karina Byrnes' fourth collection of poems, titled "If This Makes You Nervous," is a captivating homage to her art-immersed upbringing. Through a series of poems, Byrnes challenges perception and creates a dialogue between the speaker and sixty-six artists. These lyrical narratives unfold with psychological urgency and candor, re-encountering each artist's unique oeuvre. The poems are not only personal but also political, mapping out the author's emotional, spatial, and gender orientations within the confines of our visual culture.

The collection opens with "If This Makes You Nervous," a poem that explores longing and loss, leading the reader on winding paths that balance beauty and terror, as well as what is seen and what remains invisible. Throughout the collection, Byrnes delves into shifting identity, beginning in a preteen memory and moving through history's collective body. The final poem, "If This Makes You Nervous," offers a devotional look at shifting identity, concluding with what is "connected and accounted for" in the imaginations relativistic measure of time.

Byrnes' use of language is exquisite, with each poem carefully crafted to evoke emotions and provoke thought. The collection is a testament to the power of poetry to transcend boundaries and connect individuals through the shared experience of art. "If This Makes You Nervous" is a must-read for anyone who appreciates the beauty and complexity of language and the profound impact of art on our lives.

Weight: 164g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781632430953