Formally playful, frequently powerful. A collection that not only will benefit from re-reads, but somewhat requires it.

PILGRIM BELL’s images are made tangible through Akbar’s skillful wordsmithing. A colonial critique and a cultural love letter.

Kaveh Akbar is one of my favorite poets of all time. When starting this collection, I was a bit worried that I was going in with too high of expectations, that I hadn't read one of his new poems in a while and maybe nothing could hold up to the ideal in my head. But wow, regardless of my high expectations, Akbar surpassed them here. Pilgrim Bell is easily one of the best books of poetry I have ever read.

I took notes on nearly every individual poem while reading this book, and I don't know where to begin trying to share them. Some similar words and images running throughout the collection work so well, better than I'm used to things like that feeling in other poetry books. It also didn't take long for me to think "damn, I need to buy this book myself so that I can reread this later."

I was also glad and surprised to see "Forfeiting My Mystique" included here; that is one of my top five favorite poems of all time. It's the first thing I ever read by Kaveh Akbar and I immediately knew I wanted to read everything he would ever write. Several lines of it have stuck in my head for years, and I couldn't forget them if I tried. Interestingly to me, he changed the last stanza from the original piece. His new ending is good of course, and I'm sure he had good reason to do so; but the original ending was so good, and it's one of the parts I never forgot, so I couldn't help being slightly disappointed to see it changed here.

(Seriously though, go read "Forfeiting My Mystique." I know it's long but it's so so so worth it.)

I have no idea what to say about this book. Kaveh Akbar is one of the best poets ever, and the more I read from him the more I am convinced of this. As a poet myself, there's no one I wish I could write like more than him. I would recommend this collection to anyone who likes poetry at all in any way.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Graywolf Press for the chance to review this ARC.

Kaveh Akbar's poetry speaks to me in a pretty specific way. The way the language moves is so surreal--there is something in the way the words play out that always has this air of whimsy and rich complex weight to it. When I say whimsy I think of it less in a white western way. When I talk about whimsy I lean more into the ways in which the lens for Black and Brown people is expansive and reaching farther out and in to disrupt what white western ideology imposes. That analysis is predominately projection on my part because I don't know Akbar. There's a different resonance for me personally but there is a lot to be said in analysis, interactions with poetry and not being white as a consumer. I always feel a different flow when I interact with Black and Brown poets. But that doesn't always mean I understand it anymore or any less-- I just love that there is beauty crafted by folks that are not afforded to us in our day to day. So the significance of these poems lingers differently than say if I read them from Anne Carson who I think is a great poet but I know that the resonance don't hit the same. And that's okay. It's because of my own identity and my own history with white culture dominating my life and me seeking to diverge from that. Needless to say, Akbar's Pilgrim Bell sits right in the belly. Its tender and gorgeous. It has these amazing echoing lines that bounds across my head over and over--had to write some of it out and sit with it. And i think my favorite bit is Akbar is poet that sort of refits words through sheer electric semantic and syntactical play. Its good stuff. Was so excited to see they had conjured more poems for the masses. The digital version of the Language of Mammon--i think that's the title-- was hard to read just because its digital and I think the interface would read better physically.

Pilgrim Bell feels like a meditation on one's access to spirituality in relation to cruelty and power; searching for connection and questioning its absence. Curious and contemplative, Akhbar's use of language marvels, as always; this time forcing us to: kneel.

Favorite: "Reza's Restaurant, Chicago 1997"

(It took me the first half to adjust to the mood. Planning on a reread.)

The first work I read of Kaveh’s was Calling a Wolf a Wolf, which was absolutely wonderful. Pilgrim Bell: Poems is a much anticipated sequel to that collection and it is worth the hype.

If I had to describe this collection in one word, it would be spiritual. Admittedly, it has been a while since I’ve read, let alone finished a poetry collection, but this collection really made me linger on every single line. It took me a little bit to really feel connected with the writer’s voice, but I attribute that to me not knowing what to expect when going into the collection, than any of the writer’s stylistic choices.

I consider this collection to be a spiritual mediation & a successful undertaking to being divinity to life on the page through poems. We read about different ways to view and interpret spirituality in various contexts Kaveh brings to us. The poems that really continue to sit me are the ones about Islamphobia and reconciling with being a Muslim of Iranian descent in America. And as a personal favorite, I absolutely appreciated the poem referencing the pandemic.

This collection is very thoughtful and honestly will require multiple reads to capture its beauty. It’s a breathtaking collection and if you are interesting in the spiritual // reading about how spirituality functions more broadly in various contexts, I absolutely recommend this collection to you!

A stirring collection, vibrant and ringing. It's far and away Akbar's strongest work to date, and while it's challenging at times, the rewards are plentiful.