An outstanding book of poetry. I was particularly impressed by the imagery and deftness with language. The title poem is by far my favorite but every poem offers something compelling or strange or unknowable and always beautiful.

This was gorgeous and haunting. Even when I didn't understand exactly what Kaveh was trying to say, the phrasing was so delicate and articulate that I couldn't help but stop and ponder the words. I read these poems aloud to several of my friends to bask in their glory, and I can't wait to get a physical copy so I can underline my favorite lines, which was usually several per poem. Highly recommend!

kaveh akbar is one of those rare poets whose work immediately and seamlessly clicked with my brain and all the things that i personally love emulating in my own work. he's prone to lists (of three), always seems to be writing towards something (although never seems to shy away from looking back at what he considers ugly, unwieldy, or unready), and though the contents of his poems might at times seem small in nature, they embody the slow growth of a guileless imagination, one that refuses to ever...

Calling a Wolf a Wolf is Book Three of my October poetry project. Reading this all in one go was an EXPERIENCE. One I definitely recommend! This is brilliant, a book to appreciate not just for its own merits but for the way it makes you consider and reconsider everything you see, everything you feel and how you feel about it.

this debut poetry collection is part of Kaveh Akbar's effort at making sense of his former alcohol addiction – as well as withdrawal, and the arduous journey towards recovery. many of these poems also provide insight into his experience as a migrant, exploring the impact of displacement upon one's identity. a certain skepticism towards language casts its shadow over Kaveh Akbar's poems, and these were the ones I enjoyed most – verses which acknowledge the limitations of language, questioning the...

"Like the belled cat's // frustrated hunt, my offer to improve myself / was ruined by the sound it made."

One of the most beautiful collections I have ever read. So many of these poems tore my heart out piece by piece, but in the very best way possible. In fact, because of the powerful emotional pull I felt toward this collection, I don't feel like I can write a full critique like I usually do. I will just say that that I think that this book is very much worth reading, especially if you are going through a process of recovery or a period of loneliness. Along with Danez Smith, I think that Kaveh Akb...

"goodbye now you mountain / you armada of flowers / you entire miserable decade in a lump in my throat / despite all our endlessly rehearsed rituals of mercy / it was you we sent on."

"I’m becoming more a vessel of memories than a person it’s a myth that love lives in the heart it lives in the throat we push it out when we speak when we gasp we take a little for ourselves"easily one of the best poetry collections i've read this year. it's so raw & poignant - from the very first poem, it rips out ur bones, leaves u hollow and aching. only to then delicately share w u its own journey to recovery, its own tricks for learning to love urself. (they don't always work)"I hold my bre...

These poems are full of desire and alcoholism, identity and guilt, God and words. I love his use of space on the page because it makes you take a pause along with him.Some of my favorites are Do You Speak Persian?Some Boys Aren't Born They BubbleDesunt NonnullaThirstiness is Not Equal DivisionRiver of MilkGodSo Often the Body Becomes a Distraction(I read this from a print copy via interlibrary loan but it is available in Hoopla, if you have access.)

One of the best poetry books I've ever read.

Though Yale Review says that Akbar has what every poet needs: the power to make, from emotions others have felt, memorable language nobody has assembled before. I could say that perhaps he still lacks what a poetry reader needs to be overwhelmed by the beauty of language, to want to come back to the poem again...I’ve given this coldness many names     thinking if it had a name it would have a solution     thinking if I called a wolf a wolf I might dull its fangs I carried the coldness like a di...

When I read poetry collections, I either highlight in my e-reader, or tear tiny scraps of paper as markers in my hard copies to revisit phrases or copy down a line or stanza to remember.I read Calling a Wolf a Wolf on my e-reader, and once I realized I was highlighting every single poem, I knew this was a Best of 2018 collection.Akbar's work has received a lot of praise already, and I am just heaping it on. It was a stunning collection and one I will revisit. I hope to see more work by this amaz...

I'm very careful with the poetry I read, as I'm used to classics instead of new collections, but the clever title caught my attention, it is straight to the point even if seen as hidden in metaphor, and for that I had to give it a chance. The book is mostly based on him and his alcoholic addiction, represented as the wolf. Calling it what it is, he is able to express how he, and his family members and friends feel about this problem, and his constant struggle between drowning his sorrows and sob...

Favorite poems: Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient), Desunt Nonnulla, Portrait of the Alcoholic Three Weeks Sober, Unburnable The Cold is Flooding Our Lives, Everything That Moves is Alive and a Threat - A Reminder"It's difficult to be anything at all with the whole world right here for the having.""...I carried the coldness like a diamond for years holding it close near as blood until one day I woke and it was fully inside me both of us ruined and unrecognizable two coins on a train track the tra...

i watched a college talk kaveh akbar gave on youtube and he described coming to poetry like the sky coming apart and an angel trumpeting, you’re a poet. like when mitski picked up a guitar and knew she was doomed. imagine writing with such tenderness. look at what i’ve underlined, “their mouths were little pleasure portals for taking in grape leaves cloudberries the fingers of lovers”, “an eccentricity of our species like blushing, gold teeth, and life after children,” a wild lotus bursting into...

Well, it was better than Instagram poetry, that's for sure.

Sometimes fast starts work against you. It's the "Billy Collins Rule" to always start with your best poems (like they're easy to identify) but I felt like the collection sagged a bit and slouched over the finish line. Still, some strong stuff in the first half made it worth reading. Akbar is one of the young Turks (even though he's Iranian) getting a lot of press lately, including the cover of the latest Poets & Writers.What's up with the cover? Maybe it's a friend of the author's, but easily on...

It took me awhile to really grab hold of these poems: I was reading too tentatively. When I finally dove in, I was amazed by what I found. Beauty amidst addiction, pain, loss. Craving not only alcohol but life itself. There were lines that took my breath away (it slowed my reading, all those lines that demanded deeper attention).There is also a struggle with faith, a craving for a God who often seems absent from His creation.This is a book that anyone who cares about poetry should read.

Earlier this year, I urged Book Riot readers to follow Kaveh Akbar (and a few other poets) on Twitter, in part on the power of his chapbook, Portrait of the Alcoholic, which was published in January. Beating everyone on this list for turnaround time, Akbar is about to publish another book, this one full length, not even 9 months later. This book continues Portrait‘s examination of addiction and recovery (“everyone wants to know / what I saw on the long walk / away from you”) but expands that foc...