I remember ordering music videos on VHS and zines listed in free newspapers. I remember my friend and I never managed to put our own zine together but we’d write letters to the kids who made them so they’d know someone read them. I remember writing poems about Vincent Price and a certain boy’s Levi jacket. I remember it smelled like cigarettes and teenage boy musk and pigeons. I remember when he told me about pigeon keeping. I remember wanting to sniff his neck and lick his face, but the closest I ever got to him was a handshake.

Inspired by the underground classic, I Remember by Joe Brainard, Shane Allison takes us on a fragmented, lustful, and poetic tour of his life, from a turbulent childhood in Florida to his life in New York City. Allison’s book is an epic poem/memoir full of frozen moments that capture a sexual, cultural, and emotional coming of age.

Liviana by Carlie Holmboe

Picturesque by Michelle Reale