Description
Would it be possible to compose a book that appears to be "about" its author, but is indirectly about something else, like identity or relationships or language? Maybe a book not written by a hero... but by many?
This was the challenge taken up by Kevin McPherson Eckhoff in his fourth book, their biography: an organism of relationships. This collaborative memoir collages together word-portraits from friends, family, coworkers, strangers, robots, and even adversaries in order to create a silhouette of not a single person, but of the manacles that connect people to one another.
their biography is meant to make people think—it's broad array of voices and poetic/prosaic forms disturbs comfortable patterns of reading, and its subject is as much about the contributors as the author. Eclectic and desolate, confessional and dubious, this record of relationships defies authorship, biography, and individualism.
Fans of Gregory Betts's "Facebook Poem Project" or Rachel Zolf's Tolerance Project, along with anyone compelled by contemporary poetry and conceptual art, will connect with this pixelated investigation into identity, and the true meaning of 'self' as we and others define it.
About the author
kevin mcpherson eckhoff’s poetry has been described as having "purity, clarity, and intensity of emotion" while "[undermining] our common sense of language." Recent work appears in the anthologies Why Poetry Sucks and TAG: Canadian Poets at Play, and he co-edited the final issue of Open Letter with his best friend, Jake Kennedy. As the managing editor at Kalamalka Press, he runs the John Lent Poetry-Prose Award, a letterpress chapbook competition for emerging writers. For eight months of the year, he teaches at Okanagan College, and for the remaining four, he hides out at the Shuswap River or Starlight Drive-in or Rose Mountain with his Laurel and Lionheart. Connect with Kevin on his website, http://kevinmcphersoneckhoff.com/, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kevinmcphersoneckhoff.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for Kevin McPherson Eckhoff's Rhapsodomancy
"A feast for the eyes."—Broken Pencil
"Rhapsodomancy is simply great fun. And perhaps a lesson in alphabetical hubris.— Eclectic Ruckus
"A noteworthy example of Canadian visual poetry, easily joining the ranks of bpNichol."—The Mark