AVAILABLE FORMATS

ABOUT DIG

Stonewall Honor Book • 2017 Lambda Literary Finalist • Over the Rainbow LGBTQ List

Bryan Borland’s third poetry collection examines what it means to dig—to undertake the intense labor of unearthing the personal/political/artistic self and embracing the consequences of that knowledge. The poet recognizes that “[t]he world needs another love poem / like it needs blood in the throat,” yet seeks to commune with the sanctity of flesh, offering the language of his body. These poems assert that to dig is to reveal the bedrock on which we may rebuild ourselves; to discover the beauty and reward of life buried deep within us—no matter how many layers of earth we need to overturn.

PRAISE FOR DIG

"The most hackneyed of literary genres—the love poem—gets a serious shaking up and makeover in Bryan Borland's wonderful series of exactly that. There's an honesty and openness, a willingness to explore dark corners of relationships and the past but also to celebrate the many sides of the sheer joy of being young and together that illuminates every page of DIG. These poems are fresh as tomorrow."
—Felice Picano, author of Nights at Rizzoli

“In his third book of poems, Bryan Borland wields a deft and lyrical hand, cracks open the heart, and imagines a mind where madness is beautiful and ‘everything is instinct.’ He chronicles a marriage that is not your mother's marriage, but that you will recognize as true love. He unflinchingly examines (as he digs) and records (as he pens) the intimacies of our 'human countries,' gifting the reader with poems that are radical, witty, and tender. Be prepared for Borland’s large and unadulteratedly queer vision. Bring a hankie—aqua, gold, or anything in between.”
—Denise Duhamel, guest editor of Best American Poetry 2013 and author of Blowout, and Maureen Seaton, author of Fibonacci Batman: New and Selected Poems

“Bryan Borland writes of marriage, but the kind of marriage that rattled Blake’s visions—or as Borland puts it, the body ‘bored by its own heart so it becomes / the eater of hearts.’ Here you’ll find love poems, but the kind few valentines have the courage to write, missives of love as contrary ache, as an exercise in animal need: ‘There are hollow places in us / that are hungry. We know the risk / of not having them filled.’ DIG is a collection that does what it says it’s going to do—relentlessly, ruthlessly—digging into the body, into the merciless desire of the body, into the ground that gave the body birth and will someday take it back again.”
—Nickole Brown, author of Fanny Says, and Jessica Jacobs, author of Pelvis with Distance

“Bryan Borland is talking to you and everything is at stake. There’s a lot of ferocity and a little bit of dread just beneath the surface of these quiet lyrics and narratives—but Borland knows how to spin shame and grief into love. These poems phosphoresce tenderness and violence in equal parts like a gentle calamity. Borland does not flinch in the face of grand and devastating forces. ‘This is resurrection,’ he observes. ‘The end of one faith. The beginning of another.’ Borland has more than proven his mettle as a man of letters with both his previous work and with his commitments to queer literature as a publisher, and this new collection heralds a powerful maturing of his poetic voice.”
—Kazim Ali, author of Bright Felon

PRESS AND NEWS

ARKANSAS TIMES - A Q&A with Bryan Borland by Seth Eli Barlow

AMSTERDAM QUARTERLY - Review by Bryan R. Monte

THE BAY AREA REPORTER - Books for the Beach & Beyond, Gregg Shapiro

THE DESERT SUN - Desert Outlook: Poet to explore 'power of words' at valley LGBT Center, Will Dean

THE GERALDINE R. DODGE POETRY FOUNDATION - Ask a Poet: Bryan Borland

LAMBDA LITERARY - "Bryan Borland and JP Howard Named Lambda Literary’s Judith A. Markowitz Emerging Writer Award Winners"

SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES - Arts and Entertainment, pg. 21

WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF BOOKS - September 2016 Exemplars, Grace Cavalieri

WRITER'S DIGEST - Bryan Borland: Poet Interview by Robert Lee Brewer 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bryan Borland is a two-time Lambda Literary finalist in Poetry and winner of the 2016 Judtih A. Markowitz Emerging Writer Award whose work has been frequently selected by the American Library Association’s “Over the Rainbow” list of recommended LGBTQ publications. His books of poetry include My Life as Adam, Less Fortunate Pirates: Poems from the First Year Without My Father, DIG, and the chapbook Tourist, which chronicled his cross-country book tour for DIG during the 2016 presidential election. He was also the editor of Lady Business: A Celebration of Lesbian Poetry, published by Sibling Rivalry Press and the co-editor of Joy Exhaustible, an anthology highlighting the writing of gay publishers and editors.

In 2023, Bryan was awarded a Desert Rat Writing Residency Editor’s Prize for his poem, “The Talking Night.” In 2024, Poets House (NY) acquired his portrait (as taken by BA Van Sise for the book Children of Grass: A Portrait of American Poetry) for its permanent collection. His current writing explores environmental and climate-conscious themes as well as spirituality. He is at work on his fourth full-length collection of poetry and a novel. He is the founder and publisher of Sibling Rivalry Press, an independent publishing house based in Little Rock, Arkansas, which he runs with his husband, Seth Pennington.

For more news and press, check out Bryan’s website.

ALSO BY BRYAN BORLAND