Published June 2023 via University Press of Kentucky
★★★★
This slim volume is doing the world of a layered memoir, but in standalone pieces of verse. Carver grew up bone-poor in rural Appalachia, poor and gay and knowing that there was still space for him—even in his rural homeland.
Gay Poems for Red States (not a fan of the title, but oh well) takes readers through Carver's youth and into adulthood, through the years with teachers who could see his potential and the adults who couldn't hear anything other than his deep-South accent. I couldn't find a particularly quotable piece of "A Guy Named Casey Who I Had Never Met", but it's my favorite poem of the book—a moment that speaks to the importance of seeing others like you be accepted, and perhaps even more so to the importance of symbols of hope.
Here's hoping that this one makes it into a lot of high school libraries. Is it too much to hope that it can be stocked in Florida high schools...?
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