Overview

This collection of poetry, the second in the Margaret Randall Poetry Series, explores Dodici Azpadu's journey from her low-life origins in Red Hook, Brooklyn, through her time at the University of Iowa's MFA program, the street life of San Francisco and the emotional drought she there endured, and her later transformation in Albuquerque and the meditative mountains of New Mexico. Many poems in Cloak are in free verse, and many are wakas and other syllabic forms. Together, they weave together the elements of a life made whole on the frayed edges of the world.

Full Product Details

9781956375503

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Dodici Azpadu's Cloak is the cinematic view of the life of an outsider growing up in a Sicilian Arab family fresh from Ellis Island, unlearning a mother's language and learning that their nationality is 'American.' Each scene is rich in detail and emotion, from an infant bed, 'a dresser drawer softened with towels, ' to heading out into America 'to commit the crime of my life, ' wearing ties and living nonbinary long before the term was coined. A jazz singer's 'I can't make you love me' to the poet becomes 'I can't make the world love me.' Read Cloak. It's a gripping movie of a book."" - Mary Oishi, Albuquerque Poet Laureate Emerita, author of Sidewalk Cruiseship ""Cloak speaks of how queer people of color survive their families and social barriers with dignity intact. There is not a whine or poor-me anywhere, but there is a good deal of in-your-face. These poems take me back, and they offer a roadmap for today. Everyday spirituality is a special secret in this treasure chest."" - Linda Tillery, musician and producer

Author Information

Dodici Azpadu is a gender queer, American-born Sicilian Arab. They live with their Jewish spouse in New Mexico, where they practice Shalom Bayit (Peace in the House). Recently, Azpadu has come out of retirement to teach a master class in fiction writing at the University of New Mexico. Their novel Living Room was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, the Golden Crown Literary Award, and the New Mexico Book Award. In 2025, they published Dead of Winter, a historical fiction novel about the underbelly of the women's movement in the 1970s.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available