The fifth volume of our Spotlight poetry series, Compression & Purity
is a new collection of poetry by Los Angeles-based African American
surrealist Will Alexander. Known for densely textured visionary epics
influenced by poets like Aimé Césaire and César Vallejo, Alexander here
returns to shorter forms to address his ecological, cosmological, and
historical concerns. Highlights include a monologue from the perspective
of "The Blood Penguin," a song by the "New Water on Mars," and
Alexander's autobiographical lyric essay, "My Interior Vita," describing
the evolution of his artistic consciousness through jazz and surrealism.
Compression & Purity confirms Alexander's reputation among
surrealism's foremost contemporary practitioners.