Can a book be birthed? Can a poem be mothered? These are the central questions behind BANG, a lyric narrative collection investigating concepts of artistic embodiment, abortion, and pregnancy. Incorporating inspiration from the artwork and life of Ana Mendieta, this project explores the body as material, as something we create, sculpt, and birth. Mixing voice-driven poetry with forms invoking mothering, like ekphrasis and erasure, this work asks if living can be an act of art, if life itself can be a text.

This collection operates in murky territory: exploring our blurry cultural holdings around abortion, gendered violence, and art. It explores ethical questions around pregnancy, what it means to choose, or not choose, to give birth. Ultimately, this text argues that abortion can be an act of care and mothering. These poems offer a look at a text that attempts to live, breathe, and blurs boundaries between life and art.