My Ariel

‘Lambda Literary Award–winner Queyras (MxT) reworks Sylvia Plath’s notorious book Ariel in this ambitious and wildly inventive collection … This visceral, trenchant, and musical book reveals Queyras to be at the height of her powers.’

– Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Where were you when you first read Ariel? Who were you? What has changed in your life? In the lives of women? In My Ariel, Sina Queyras barges into one of the iconic texts of the twentieth century, with her own family baggage in tow, exploring and exploding the cultural norms, forms, and procedures that frame and contain the lives of women.

When I am a bitch I feel in such good company.
Nice girls never gave me anything but trouble,

Eating the ground out from under me, then waving
As I fall. Pity one has to die to see how liberating

Bad can be. But what news had I of my own self?
Words landed like razors, hours tinkled, suitors arrived.

Listen, you'll think otherwise, but I tell you, betrayal
Is your Get Out of Jail Free card. Take it,

Don't look back. Of course you will. Look back.
We always do, we who adore the muscle

Of our cashmere cells, a cock that makes
Our knees weak. Darlings, don't be sweet,

Or serviceable. Don't accommodate,
Write in blood or don't bother ...

Sina Queyras was born in Manitoba and grew up on the road in western Canada. She has since lived in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, and Calgary. Most recently, she is the author of the poetry collection MxT, which received the QWF Award for poetry, the Pat Lowther Award, and the ReLit award for poetry. She has taught creative writing at Rutgers, Haverford, and Concordia University in Montreal, where she currently lives.