subhuman.
A finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, subhuman. is a compelling and unflinching exploration of life behind bars, written during the author’s incarceration. Through the lens of a Black, queer man, this work sheds light on the often unspoken physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges faced by the incarcerated. subhuman is a poignant and necessary read, offering a voice to those whose stories are too often left untold.
Poems from this collection have appeared in Poetry, Indiana Review, The Shore Poetry, and other magazines and journals.
Praise for subhuman.
Kashawn Taylor shares what “a hard / long day of prisoning…” is like in his debut poetry collection, subhuman. Through an exploration of images, emotions, intimacies, and determination, Taylor dismantles the prison system by humanizing it. Stunning how Taylor uses playfulness, humor, and creative logic as coping skills. Approachable and heartbreakingly transformative, the lyrical unfolding of the poet’s experience reveals the ways in which we are all bound to the cell of ourselves. As he details what is lost, a profound insight is found: “—bitter or sweet?— / on the puckered lips of lives / we never come close to kissing.” Taylor’s self-realized voice bares beauty and grit, giving us his world, which includes hope.
—Alexis Ivy, author of Taking the Homeless Census
It’s almost unfair to call any poetry, prison poetry - it denies the obvious, how any experience can become the lens by which we understand the world. In subhuman., Kashawn Taylor makes this evident. This is a book about loss: of dignity, of safety, of stability. But it’s also about what’s there: all the imagination needed to notice how, within a landscape of tragedy, there is art. And survival. This collection is a powerful testament to poetry as a tool for liberation: a limitless space for questioning, confessing, and connecting. It is a vivid reminder of human spirit’s capacity.
—Reginald Dwayne Betts, Writer and Founder of Freedom Reads
Taylor's descriptions and language provide readers with a window into his world—a world filled with pain, longing, hope, and moments of unexpected beauty. The humor, sorrow, and rebellion in the collection reflects the complexity of life behind bars and reminds us of our shared humanity. subhuman. is not just a collection of poems; it is a call to empathy, a celebration of resilience, and a testament to the indomitable human spirit. Kashawn Taylor’s words are not just written—they are lived, and they will live on in the hearts and minds of those who read them.
—Yukari Kane, Co-Founder and CEO at Prison Journalism Project
If you have this book in your hands, then know you are holding an impeccable and radiant cri de coeur. Its language - bred from ptomaine shower drains and apples tasting of battery acid, from prison cells and baleful leaf altars-- is intimate and gorgeous. subhuman. is soaring, Kashawn Taylor is a searing talent, and I hope this is the first of many books by him.
—Darcie Dennigan, award-winning playwright and poet