Overview

Finalist, 2026 Miller Williams Poetry Prize Following in the footsteps of poets like Hanif Abdurraqib, John Murillo, and Robert Hayden, Raphael Jenkins's Paper Pistolconsiders tenderness, heteronormativity, male friendship, grief, and the various violences implemented by and against Black men. Channeling a multitude of speakers, this collection explores Black fatherhood and ""the totems we bequeath"" to our young, whom the ""hunter . . . see[s as] a field of bucks instead of a / field of boys. What marred your vision & made us look so killable?"" With humor and vivid imagery, Paper Pistol ultimately champions familial care and poetry as the ultimate weaponry, even in the wake of generational violence. ""If a pistol were made of paper,"" the poet dreams. ""If a piece / of paper were capable of killing. If a peace. If peace / were possible.""

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9781682262856

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Reviews

""In Paper Pistol, Raphael Jenkins pledges allegiance to all the Black hands that have kept him fresh to (and away from) death. Deeply invested in questioning the hazards and uncertainties of being a Black man in America, his collection is the heavy conversation held at the dinner table of every Black household. The conversation that exposes the truths of what one is willing to endure for a chance to feel the full weight of love. This collection is an ode to Black sovereignty and a reminder that while the world may have cracked his lips, Jenkins still sticks out his tongue to show it that his bleeding means he is still alive."" —Karisma Price, author of I'm Always So Serious ""Paper Pistol is an homage to life and the gifts of family, the familiar, the foreign, the strange, and the hope each holds. The poet says 'I consider the possibility none of this was an accident. / What if Momma, in her owlish wisdom, knew the jilted blocks / her son wandered—to smother the whispers in him / & find a smile he could steal for himself to wear.' The figure of the mother will activate a sensation that will make you reach for soup. Reach for a cup. Reach for something in these poems. Reach for yourself."" —Jonah Mixon-Webster, author of Stereo(TYPE) ""Raphael Jenkins's remarkable Paper Pistol draws lyric portraits of Black lives so nuanced, real, soulful, and profoundly poetic that I did not want to stop reading. In poems ranging from elegies to invocations of life's little moments of Black joy, and written with an ear for everyday speech's deep music, Jenkins has crafted a debut collection that recalls his own and his community's stories while registering its righteous critiques of where we find ourselves today."" —John Keene, author of Punks: New and Selected Poems ""Raphael Jenkins's Paper Pistol punctuates the complex intimacy shared between Black folks in passing, long-term kinship, in grief, parenthood, and celebration. Throughout this collection Jenkins molds the workable clay of pain into the shape of giggles, smoke circles, hands thrown, masked tears, and personified elders. Each poem contains a world of tender familiarity we are invited to feel our way through. Come home to this testimony of survival, this archive of love longed for and found."" —Darius Simpson, author of Never Catch Me

Author Information

Raphael Jenkins is a chef and writer and former Periplus Fellow. A Detroit native, he currently resides in Kentucky with his partner and their son. Paper Pistol is his first book.

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