Aaron Shurin Knihy

The narrative offers an intimate glimpse into the experiences of a gay poet navigating life in San Francisco from the 1960s onward. Through personal anecdotes and reflections, it explores the vibrant cultural landscape, the evolution of queer identity, and the impact of historical events on the LGBTQ+ community. This account highlights the intersections of art, love, and activism, providing a profound understanding of the poet's journey and the broader societal changes over the decades.

The narrative intertwines the lingering echoes of poetic history with the intense realities of modern experiences. Through this balance, the author explores how past influences shape present events, creating a dynamic interplay between memory and the physical world. The work invites readers to reflect on the connections between history and contemporary life, emphasizing the emotional and intellectual resonance of both.

Urban and pastoral, highly figured and fragmented, grieving and dreaming, the prose poems of The Blue Absolute set people moving and thinking amidst a flurry of dashes, dots, perspective shifts, and the fragmented action of San Francisco, the great city on the edge.

​​A moving collection of essays that bring poetic insight to the sheer facts of the AIDS epidemic, in an attempt to make meaning from suffering. ​​Unbound is a poet's intimate account of life in San Francisco in the 80s and 90s during the apex of the AIDS epidemic. In his search for meaning, Shurin dives down into the broken-hearted, revelatory core of the social landscape and the lives of friends who both succumbed to and transcended the disease. Twenty-five years after its initial publication, Unbound continues the search, resonating inescapably with the perils of our new pandemic. Shurin brings to life a familiar world tensed on the threshold of living, balanced precariously on the edges of love and friendship, family and community, rapture and mourning.

Featuring a collection of sixty-eight new poems, this work showcases Aaron Shurin's ability to blend romance and visceral emotion with an edgy style. The poems are celebrated for their unabashed beauty, offering readers a diverse and engaging exploration of contemporary themes and experiences.