Broken Halves of a Milky Sun

This is Ms. Nin’s first collection, though she’s been writing and publishing since 2016. Some of these poems are a bit rough around the edges, yes, but again, they speak deeply to queer (especially in religious/homophobic environments) and immigrant experiences. She also plays around with format in interesting ways, though admittedly the ARC isn’t formatted in places so that could also be part of it.

Definitely intrigued by what I’m seeing here and will be following her writing. I will warn for implied child sexual abuse.

This was a beautiful and raw poetry collection, and I really liked it. I think Aaiún Nin was the potential of becoming a great and well know poetry writer. Their poetry explores themes that are closer to their life, like their feelings as an immigrant in a foreign country or as a Black queer person.

Critiquing poetry is very hard. To me, it’s either I like it or I don’t like. I have to FEEL the poem, some sort of connection has to be made, and I did feel it while reading this collection. I was so absorbed that I read everything in one sitting. I’m gonna give this another go in the future, because I wanna re-read each poem more deeply. If you like poets like Ocean Vuong, Natalie Diaz and Danez Smith, definitely give this collection a go. Aaiún was the potential to become a big voice in the poetry scene. Since I got an ARC, I believe the version I got wasn’t the final printing version, so I hope the editor manage to fix some parts before printing. But that’s it. Keep this in your radar, I think this is gonna be a big poetry release in 2022.

A beautiful, painful, and brutal exploration of identity, race, and queerness. I found this to be an incredibly fresh and sharp approach to poems that explore lesbian identity and racial inequality. I especially loved the repetitive passages that emphasized the same message for several pages--they were in your face in the best way. I think the comparisons to Ocean Vuong and Natalie Diaz were well earned and accurate, and I highly recommend this collection with attention to trigger warnings.

A very beautiful and raw collection of poems about being a Black, queer woman in a world that wasn't built for you. Nin is from Angola and I really appreciated a non-Western perspective on not just these issues, but also issues of religion, migration, and belonging. I didn't always understand the line breaks used, but I really loved the imagery and the use of repetition. Highly recommend!

"You learn from women
early on
that we all need kindness
To look for the stores
in women with downcast eyes
the devil is a lie that disappears behind
smoke and life
is a long journey towards forgiveness."

A strong poetry collection. Nin has a great command of the written word and artfully expresses so much emotion with brevity. The poems are powerful and striking. 'Mourning is Movement's was my favorite of the collection.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. These poems are not for the faint of heart, they are raw and direct and powerful examinations of identity, race, sexuality, gender, among many other things. I like to see rage in poems, it doesn't all have to be pretty, though there is gorgeous language throughout.

An absolutely gorgeous poetry collection about the way western "civilization" messed up the world, but also about desire, hurt, lust, the need to love and the wish to be loved back, through some really outstanding lyrics. Feel like this is one of the poetry collection that came out in 2021 that really stood out to me!

BROKEN HALVES OF A MILKY SUN is a poetry collection that pays its respects to those who have died, especially at the hands of a system that refuses to acknowledge racist ideologies, a system that thrives on solving its problems with punishment, rather than building up communities. It forces readers to reflect on the question: what does it really mean to be an ally if you haven’t reflected on the way you’ve internalized white supremacy?

These poems celebrate identities that resist erasure. Poems for those who mourn as an act of preservation. There are also pockets of temporary refuge in-between verses for those who are burdened with heavy secrets, reminding us through language, there is a possibility of release.

Mostly, I found understanding in the poems that declare its love for those torn between two homes and for those heartbroken and enraged.

My top favorites in this were “Tell Me of the First Time You Were Poisoned” and “Souls Wandering Around Chained to a System.”

Don't read these poems if you have a hard time fathoming that people might reject your white supremacy or your religion, or maybe do read these poems if you haven't gotten it yet. These poems declare Blackness, Africanness, Angoleseness, queerness, and confront the narrative that white culture and religion should be the dominant/only. The poet does this in ways both serious and lighter ("Find Some Real Chilies" was one of my favorites.) They also embody reclamation of bodily autonomy in a number of ways.

"...what strength we must have to hold secrets inside the body..."

The poet is now living in Denmark in asylum and many of the poems discuss borders and refuge, and the many ways seeking refuge has been made illegal.

In their daring and evocative debut, Aaiún Nin leaves absolutely nothing left unsaid. Theirs is a fiercely political poetics which centers the Black Queer experience and names the many violences committed by Western governments in the name of Christianity, “progress”, and the status quo. Where other writers would dance on the line between truthful testimony and placating respectability, most likely due to a reflexive need for self-preservation, Nin forges a path of their own through a tangled web of desire, trauma, history, and their personal immigrant experience—in their case, one that has been rife with racism, homophobia, and other intersecting axes of oppression.

What Nin refuses to do in Broken Halves of a Milky Sun is cater to an audience that would never listen to them anyway, at least not in any substantive or constructive way. In fact, they anticipate the not all men and not all white people responses and throw it back in the faces of their would-be detractors. This is not a space for the oppressors to have a say. Sit down. They are not accepting questions or comments at this time.

So moved was I by the poems in this collection that when I made it to the end, breathless and aching, only one response would suffice: Amen.

How does colonialism affect people. How does a person explore the trauma connected with it? Where does joy and pain connect and how does a person navigate them? Queerness and love and connection... these poems are a glimpse at Nins experience in all of these areas, so beautiful.

On the inside cover description, it essentially says (I’m paraphrasing) that Nin crafted a collection where some of the poems have a quiet force and others are loud. I could not agree more. This collection speaks on queer love, the effects of colonialism and heteronormativity, speaks on Angola, Blackness, and complications of the immigrant experience. I need more people to read this one and thank you for the gifted copy Astra House books!