Broken Halves of a Milky Sun: Poems

by Aaiún Nin

Overview

With the emotional undertow of Ocean Vuong and the astute political observations of Natalie Diaz, a powerful poetry debut exploring the effects of racism, war and colonialism, queer love and desire.

    In their breathtaking international debut, Aaiún Nin plumbs the depths of the lived and enduring effects of colonialism in their native country, Angola. In these pages, Nin untangles complexities of exile, the reckoning of familial love, but also reveals the power of queer love and desire through the body that yearns to love and be loved. Nin shows the ways in which faith and devotion serve as forms of oppression and interrogates the nature of home by reclaiming the persistent echoes of trauma. A captivating blend of evocative prose and intimate testimony, Nin speaks to the universal vulnerability of existence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662600807
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	02/01/2022
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Aaiún Nin (born 1991) is a writer, mixed media artist and painter born in Luanda, Angola. Aaiún's poetry has been published in multiple Scandinavian magazines and journals, including Information, (un)told pages, Kritiker, Friktion, Forfatternes Klimaaksjon, and hvermandag.dk. They are also the contributing editor of the Danish magazine Marronage. They have performed and read at literary festivals like Oslo Internasjonale Poesifestival in Norway and at the Louisiana Literature Festival in Denmark. The leading Danish newspaper, Politiken, recently called Aaiún a "great, rare talent in Danish literature." Aaiún studied in Zimbabwe and South Africa. They currently reside in Poland.

Table of Contents

Black Skin in the Forsaken Outback 2

A Door Left Ajar 6

God Gave Man the Word 10

Luanda Smells of Heat 12

You Learn from Women 14

We are the Bodies Who Fled 18

Fleeing War Is 20

Activist Spaces Littered With … 21

Mourning is Movement. 22

My Mother's Face Set Inwards 25

Have You Forgotten? We Were in a Room 26

The Sound of It Is "Waweh" 28

A Crucified Man Condemned Us All. 31

Shaking Hands 32

Tell Me of the First Time You Were Poisoned. 33

Language must be Adequate. 36

We Consume the Body during Sex 42

Life Will Hit You, But You Already Know That 44

If Youth Is Wasted on the Young 45

I Am Thinking of Killing Myself 46

There Are Two Bodies with No Heads 49

Your Room Is Cold and Dark 50

I Write to Slow the Passing of Time 52

Find Some Real Chilies 54

We are the Broken Halves of a Milky Sun 60

If We Happen to Meet on this Road 64

I Want to Love the People Whom I Love 66

Do Not Touch My Hair. 68

Don't You Ever Feel Grateful 70

Souls Wandering Around Chained to a System 72

Acknowledgments 75

Editorial Reviews

A queer song of emergency, this books floored me. Each poem is like a pound of flesh with a razor hidden inside. I'm here for the catholic paganism, the pain, the power, and the authority. Aaiún Nin's writing is fearless, it’s in transit, and runs as if to catch up to language. These are hungry poems, constantly crossing the border between violence and desire. I will never forget the first time I heard them read. BROKEN HALVES OF A MILKY SUN is a testament to how great poetry can turn powerlessness into crushing, dazzling agency.”
—Olga Ravn, author of The Employees

"Incendiary and engrossing. Throughout this collection, Nin deals divine blows to white supremacy, colonialism, the heteropatriachy, Europe’s unending assault on human life emanating from across the Mediterranean, and other institutions of systematic violence and inhumanity. With cutting and illuminating art in its highest form, Nin offers us stunning portrayals of love, lust, sorrow, hope, happiness, and pain that are sure to resonate deeply with readers. This is life-giving literature that will echo in my mind and chest indefinitely." 
—Massoud Hayoun, author of When We Were Arabs

From the Publisher