Review: "Rupture Anthem" by Hera Naguib

Rupture Anthem by Hera Naguib
Published October 2026 via University of Pittsburgh Press
★★★★

Poems of belonging and loss. I've been very into poems of place of late—more generally, I like collections with strong themes, and this delivers. The book spans countries, from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan to the United States; there's a sense that what home means shifts in each place. At times I could nearly smell the difference in the air, the hot dry heat of Saudi Arabia's desert competing against street food stalls in Lahore.

The language is clear enough to follow and slippery enough to keep one thinking, which is just how I like poetry; this is all personal preference, of course, but I don't have a poet's brain and thus am happiest with things that have enough of the literal that I have a hope of understanding but that still make me work for it (poetry being one of those things that is most satisfying when you feel like you've earned it).

I couldn't take many notes on this one, because I had to read it on my phone, so I'll keep this short—but recommended to those looking for poetry about identity, place, home, navigating spaces not built for you.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.