Unbound Edition Press today announced the publication of Sophia Anfinn Tonnessen’s second poetry collection, Choke. Currently available for pre-order, the title will officially launch in November 2024 to honor Transgender Awareness Month, specifically on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Transgender Awareness Week is observed from November 13-19 each year, leading up to Transgender Day of Remembrance, which occurs annually on November 20 to memorialize victims of transphobic violence.
Choke stands as a bold follow-up to Tonnessen’s celebrated debut collection, Ecologia (2021),which earned a coveted Kirkus Starred Review and was named to that publication’s list of Top 100 poetry titles in 2022.
With her most recent work, Tonnessen pushes her once prayerful voice into a full-throated war cry. Choke offers a daring fusion of experimental poetry and a fictional scientific study, creating a disorienting and mesmerizing exploration of identity, desire, and the relentless scrutiny faced by trans people. “These poems are an unflinching act of protest, fighting tooth-and-nail for a humanity that history has denied… Each page brings language to its knees, demanding that poetry withstand the weight of love, rage, and history,” said poet and artist Caroline Harper New, author of A History of Half-Birds.
“Choke is more than a collection of poems,” said Tonnessen. “I am presenting an immersive journey into the complexities of existing in a world that is simultaneously fascinated by and hostile to trans bodies and experiences.”
Interspersed throughout the collection are clinical “research reports” – Tonnessen’s own biting satire of objectification and medicalization – along with photographs of the author as studied subject. These serve as a stark counterpoint to Tonnessen’s deeply personal poetry, highlighting the disconnect between private experiences and public observations.
Patrick Davis, publisher and editor in chief at Unbound Edition Press, worked directly with Tonnessen on Choke. “Her verse pulses with raw emotion and linguistic innovation, defying conventional approaches to evoke a visceral, bodily response. These poems create a kaleidoscopic lens, through which Tonnessen examines body, memory, and transformation with unflinching honesty and disarming tenderness.”
