Nicholas Taylor-Collins in front of a bookshelf

Nicholas Taylor-Collins

Literary researcher | Creative reader

Tag: Bryan Washington

  • Writing (a) genealogy: ‘Surge’ by Jay Bernard

    Writing (a) genealogy: ‘Surge’ by Jay Bernard

    In ‘Kombucha’, a prose poem about, among other things, menstrual mooncups, Jay Bernard’s persona asks: When I stare at these bottles, it’s blood that has been three times enlarged. Who says we have no genealogy? Who says that if I line them up, as ornaments, a blood archive, then it isn’t like us having had…

  • ‘Lot’ by Bryan Washington: a battle for an ordinary

    ‘Lot’ by Bryan Washington: a battle for an ordinary

    Bryan Washington’s Lot (Atlantic Books: 2019) is a short-story collection depicting the lives of several Houston citizens. One character’s story recurrently comes in and out of focus throughout Lot, but otherwise the stories transition between characters—mostly men—and explores how they experience the city. Another key element of the collection is its focus on who we’d…