A punk rock anti-memoir told through the eyes of a biracial Afrolatino punk academic.

!PONK! follows Moose, an alienated academic and lead guitarist for Pipebomb!, as he navigates through spaces in and out of South East Los Angeles: punk clubs, college classrooms, family gatherings, street protests, and euphoric backyard shows.

Oscillating between autofiction, memoir, and lyric, Clayton blurs genres while articulating the layered effects of racism, trauma, immigration, policing, Black hair, performance, and toxic academic language to uncover how one truly becomes an "ally." Borrowing from the spatial lyricism of Claudia Rankine, the genre-bending storytelling of Alexander Chee, and the racial musings of James Baldwin, !PONK!'s narrative takes back punk rock and finds safe space in the mosh pit.

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About the Author
Marcus Clayton is a multigenre Afrolatino writer from South Gate, CA, with an M.F.A. in Poetry from CSU Long Beach. Currently, he pursues a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California, focusing on intersections between Latinx literature, Black literature, Decolonization, and Punk Rock. Through Glass Poetry Press, he has a poetry chapbook, Nurture the Open Wounds. Current and forthcoming publications include Indiana Review, Apogee Journal, Passages North, Black Punk Now!, and The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock.

Reviews
"From the world-wise imperative of its title to its final image of a 747 slicing the sky, Marcus Clayton's Nurture the Open Wounds excavates familial dramas with vivid, particular images that display the keen sense of sound: 'the sound of sirens break / the silence like a bone.' The speaker's father stalks this text and sticks to its ribs, even in poems where he isn't mentioned. Minus the nihilism and cynicism, Nurture the Open Wounds grants credence to Philip Larkin's famous first line from 'This Be The Verse.' Clayton's great accomplishment here lies in his speaker's ability to hear the threat of the sirens while also appreciating their song." -Douglas Manuel



Book Information
ISBN 9781643622439
Author Marcus Clayton
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Nightboat Books
Publisher Nightboat Books