Be Recorder

Be Recorder represents Carmen Giménez Smith's sixth collection of poetry, released in 2019 through Graywolf Press. The book spans multiple formats including prose poems, lyric verses, and experimental structures. The poems track a speaker's experiences as a Latina woman in America, moving between personal memories and broader cultural observations. Text throughout the collection examines media consumption, motherhood, capitalism, and identity formation in the digital age. The work engages with both autobiographical elements and larger political contexts of the current moment, particularly around immigration and assimilation. Language itself becomes a central focus, as the poems explore how words shape perception and memory. This collection investigates the act of recording - both as documentation and as a means of resistance - while questioning whose stories get preserved and transmitted through time. The interplay between personal and collective memory emerges as a core tension that drives the work's examination of contemporary American life.

Readers appreciate how Smith explores identity, power, consumerism and motherhood through experimental poetry that blends personal and political themes. Many note the collection's unflinching examination of American culture and capitalism. Readers highlight the "National Security Cinema" poem as particularly impactful, with its critique of surveillance and media. Several mention the effective use of long-form poetry and stream-of-consciousness style. Some readers found portions too abstract or challenging to follow. A few noted the political commentary felt heavy-handed at times. Ratings: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (126 ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (12 ratings) Sample reader comments: "Raw and rebellious poems that demand to be read aloud" - Goodreads reviewer "Sometimes dense but worth the effort" - Amazon reviewer "Captures the anxiety of modern American life" - Poetry Foundation commenter "Parts felt more like political essays than poems" - Goodreads reviewer

Don't Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine Documents personal and political trauma through a blend of poetry and visual elements that interrogate American culture and media.

Look by Solmaz Sharif Examines war, power, and surveillance through a military lens while exploring themes of identity and displacement in contemporary America.

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz Weaves Indigenous identity with themes of state violence, environmental destruction, and bodily autonomy through lyrical narrative poetry.

Citizen Illegal by José Olivarez Navigates Mexican-American identity and immigration politics through poems that merge personal narrative with social commentary.

Feed by Tommy Pico Connects modern indigenous experience with pop culture through stream-of-consciousness poetry that addresses colonialism and contemporary life.

🖋️ Carmen Giménez Smith wrote this collection while battling breast cancer, infusing many poems with themes of mortality and resilience 📚 The book's title "Be Recorder" plays on multiple meanings - both the act of documenting/witnessing and the musical instrument, suggesting a harmony between observation and creation 🏆 The collection was named a National Book Award finalist in 2019 and received widespread critical acclaim for its examination of American identity 🌎 Many poems in the collection explore Giménez Smith's experience as a Latina in America, particularly through the lens of her Peruvian heritage and her mother's memory loss 📝 The 19-page title poem "Be Recorder" experiments with form and punctuation, creating a breathless, urgent quality that mirrors its themes of resistance and documentation