A joyful, painful, poetic exploration of gender, sexuality and the state of being human. Kevin Reid is a skillful poet who evokes not just his pleasure in transgression, but also his losses, his love, grief and his growth. Alert, delicate and honest, ‘Androgyny’ is a delight.
‘Androgyny’ is a marvellous collection. The poems are open-hearted and fearless, tender and sure-footed. They stay with you long after you’ve read them: We didn’t spit feathers. We held them / between our teeth and smiled.
These poems are like painful bodies beneath a spotlight, unapologetic, writhing with delicate breaths. Kevin Reid speaks to my gender, which is nature, and to my manhood, which is illusory, and despite the hurt music of these cool meditations, makes me feel safe but alert. Love like fog. People with the brightness turned all the way up. Angels, if you will.
I have been an admirer of Kevin Reid’s poetry since the heady days of the 52 group so I was excited to read his pamphlet, ‘Androgyny’. I was not disappointed. Same familiar punchy yet humorous voice but a new confidence too. Such honest, brave, beautifully crafted poems. I loved the collection. If you haven’t read it, go out and buy one right now!
I found ‘Androgyny’ a very touching pamphlet. Themes of this nature can be political and sometimes designed to shock with sexual language. However, Kevin Reid’s poems are gentle and affectionate. A sweet soul of a book.
Kevin Reid’s Androgyny is bittersweet, funny, hurt-filled, observed and heard. Pithy, quickly caught, and held for a lifetime. It’s huge strength is it’s never just one thing.
In Androgyny Kevin Reid takes us through the labyrinths of gender(s) and the hypocrisies of different generations. He does so in brilliant poetry which lets the voices out. A pamphlet to be read and re-read many times.
Kevin Reid 