Discordant

Discordant by Richard Hamilton, winner of the 2022 CAAPP Book Prize, selected by Evie Shockley, is a collection of lyrical poetry offering multilayered examinations of injustices—from mass incarceration to failing schools and right-wing fascism. Hamilton’s second poetry collection is a searing examination of injustice both within the United States and abroad, from criticisms of the US military-industrial complex and failing healthcare system to nuanced observations of marginalization through the lenses of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Their poems look closely at increased austerity measures, commitment to mass incarceration and private prisons, disdain for workers and labor resistance, the expansion of the US military budget, the disappearance of federal subsidies for the working poor, failing schools and teacher shortages, market inflation and price gouging, and the rising tide of right-wing fascism. Hamilton’s lyrical writing brings together free-form essays and personal narratives full of keen-eyed and urgent observations. Told from the perspective of a speaker who is unemployed and pensive, Hamilton shows how history haunts us while keeping the present in the foreground, constantly challenging oppression that has long been commonplace.