The Boys I’ve Been

What kind of magic do girls get to explore, and what is the cost of defying childhood's gendered rules? Cara Losier Chanoine's thoughtful collection follows an older self as she revisits the boundaries her younger self tested. From Batman to Bowie, these probing poems take readers on a journey that is both lyrical and accessible. -Hope Jordan, author, The Day She Decided to Feed Crows, poetry slam masterIn The Boys I've Been, Cara Losier Chanoine assembles a diverse cast of champions from a pop culture canon of grief, trauma, and survival to bring readers a moving, memorable collection of poems. The "boys" include Andy Warhol, Ghostbusters' Peter Venckman, Oscar Wilde, David Bowie, the Crow, and Peter Pan, among others. The poems explore the strange and profoundly human spaces at the intersection of the gothic and the glittery, between the deepest grieving and explosive joy. Chanoine's endearing and insightful narrator emerges from her lived experiences and her chosen family - a diverse pantheon of selves and archetypes that shaped and still shape her - owning her desires and proclaiming that "the strange can indeed / survive." -Liz Ahl, author, A Case for Solace, winner of the 2023 NH Literary Award in Poetry