Harryette Mullen is one of contemporary poetrys most influential voices, for her inventive language play, keen wit, formal experimentation, and pointed critique of American culture. InRegaining Unconsciousness, her first new collection in twelve years, Mullen confronts the imminent dangers of our present to sound an alarm for our future, to wake us out of our complicity and despondency: Can we, even still, find our way to our unconscious selves, beyond our capacity to harm, subdue, and consume?
In eleven taut sections written in the eleventh hour of our collective being, these poems address climate change, corporate greed, racist violence, artificial intelligence, the pollution of our oceans, individualism at the cost of mutual wellness, and the consequences of not addressing these pressing issues. Mullen imagines, as we must, our apocalypse, and yet, in an astounding feat, she does so with playfulness and wry referentiality that make these poems surprisingly buoyant, funny, and readable. Our end may be inevitable, Mullen admits, but maybe we begin with gratitude.
Only legendary poet Harryette Mullen could make a book of our times dire crises this much fun to read
Harryette Mullenis the award-winning author of several poetry collections, including
Urban Tumbleweed,
Recyclopedia, and
Sleeping with the Dictionary, a finalist for the National Book Award. She teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Publishers WeeklyBest Books of 2025 (Poetry)
Praise forRegaining Unconsciousness:
This wildly imaginative work speaks to the present times with a powerful urgency. Publishers Weekly(starred review)
A triumphant return of a key authority on compressed, dazzling, and true poems. Cindy Juyoung Ok,Poetry Northwest
Harryette Mullens poems are little marvels of aerodynamicsseemingly equal parts tension and structure, held together l³‰
![Regaining Unconsciousness: Poems [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/3/0/5/2_6983907.jpg "Regaining Unconsciousness: Poems [Paperback]")