Cephalopography 2.0
Rasiqra Revulva
AUGUST 2020
104 pages | ISBN 978-1-989496-08-4
**Longlisted for the 2021 Laurel Prize**
Cephalopography 2.0 is as much a passionate celebration of cephalopods in all their plurality and finery as it is a collection of poems exploring human identity and experience through the lens of these marine animals. These experiments with traditional poetic forms such as ghazals, tankas and cinquains, as well as more contemporary forms, make poems that are uniquely and beautifully composed. Cephalopography 2.0 plunges into the depths of human experience to daringly remark on the wild and transformative links between cephalopods and humanity beyond the land and the sea.
Reviews | Interviews | Articles | Excerpt | About the Author
Advance Praise
“Strange and marvellous as the deep sea, full of beauty, fear, myth, play, multiple hearts and legs, these are poems of invention, creativity, self, sex and surprise which celebrate the marvellous glitch that is life – what it is to be alive, to communicate. Here our tongue is a tentacle alert to the weird and sensual beauty of language, to the alien and ourselves as we navigate the vibrant dark that is our home. This twisted squidster is a wonder.” – Gary Barwin, author of For It Is a Pleasure and a Surprise to Breathe
Reviews
Explore Human Identity Through the Lens of Marine Animals in Cephalopography 2.0 (Megan Clark, Broken Pencil, 15/07/2021)
"Cephalopography 2.0. is an enjoyable read – challenging but also welcoming. I suspect reading the whole book through on a quiet afternoon with octopus videos playing on loop in the background could be very pleasing."
USEREVIEW 026 (Capsule): Cephalopography 2.0 (Jade Wallace, Carousel, 31/03/2021)
"Never has poetry felt so much like a marine biology-themed museum-cum-amusement park as it does in Rasqira Revulva’s exuberant, endlessly clever Cephalopography 2.0."
Cephalopography 2.0 by Rasiqra Revulva (Catherine Owen, Marrow Reviews, 15/09/2020)
"Rasiqra Revulva's work is a feast for so many senses that I felt reading these transcripts in a text was at least one of the necessary ways I could engage her multiple energies."
Rasiqra Revulva, Cephalopography 2.0 (rob mclennan, rob mclennan's blog, 13/08/2020)
"Rife with drawings, computer-generated illustrations and texts, puzzles, prayer, visual poems and a variety of writing forms, the work in Cephalopography 2.0 is energetic and wonderfully playful, vibrant and performative."
Interviews
E210 with RASIQRA REVULVA (Jamie Tennant, Get Lit, 26/11/2020)
Jamie Tennant kicks off season five of Get Lit by talking to Rasiqra about her collection.
Articles
National Poetry Month : Rasiqra Revulva (chaudiere books, 30/04/2023)
This fascinating visual poem from Rasiqra Revulva closes out rob mclennan's National Poetry Month series.
Read With Pride: Six Books for Pride Month (Conyer Clayton, All Lit Up, 01/06/2021)
Poet and editor Conyer Clayton shares some of her favourite books by queer and trans writers for Pride Month.
20 Poetry Collections You May Have Missed in 2020 (Jaclyn Desforges, Hamilton Review of Books, 16/04/2021)
Rasiqra's poetry collection is included in the wonderful roundup!
2020 Year in Review: Part 1 (Vallum, 14/01/2020)
Rasiqra's collection is one of Vallum's favourite books of 2020.
A ‘best of’ list of 2020 Canadian poetry books (rob mclennan, DUSIE, 01/01/2021)
rob mclennan names Rasiqra's book as one of the best Canadian poetry collections of 2020.
37 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in fall 2020 (CBC Books, 23/09/2020)
Rasiqra's book is one of 37 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in fall 2020.
Eden Mills Writers' Festival moves to your backyard (Guelph Today, 24/06/2020)
A write-up about this year's online Eden Mills Writers Festival, featuring Rasiqra!
29 works of Canadian poetry to watch for in spring 2020 (CBC Books, 05/03/2020)
"Cephalopography 2.0 uses traditional and modern poetic forms to explore human identity and experience from the lens of cephalopods."
Most Anticipated: Spring 2020 Poetry Preview (49th Shelf, 06/02/2020)
Rasiqra's collection makes the list of the 49th Shelf's Most Anticipated Spring Poetry.
Excerpt
Read an excerpt from Cephalopography 2.0.
About the Author
Rasiqra Revulva is a queer femme writer, multimedia artist, editor, musician, performer and SciComm advocate. She is an editor of the climate crisis anthology Watch Your Head: A Call to Action, and one half of the experimental electronic duo The Databats (Slice Records, Melbourne; Toronto). She has published two chapbooks of glitch-illustrated poetry: Cephalopography (words(on)pages press, 2016) and If You Forget the Whipped Cream, You’re No Good As A Woman (Gap Riot Press, 2018). Cephalopography 2.0 is her debut collection. Learn more at @rasiqra_revulva, @thedatabats and www.rasiqrarevulva.com.
