This is the Mask: A Book Blog

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC of “Otherwhere” by Carolyn Forché.

Carolyn Forché’s “Otherwhere” is a difficult book to read. Not because of her style or the composition of the poems, but because the subjects are so weighty with pain and sorrow, with suffering and injustice and inhumanity. These poems discuss living through war. They talk about being othered, being made less-than, becoming scapegoats.

This is not light poetry. This is a call to bear witness. It is a call to remember and acknowledge. Ignoring the past, or worse yet, pretending it didn’t happen leads to the same kind of oppression and violence, much of which we are already seeing. We were put here to make this world a better place, not tear each other down.

Forché’s poems will make some people very uncomfortable. I suggest they read her words carefully. These poems will make people angry. They will make people cry. Read them anyway. Read and remember. It is through remembering that change is possible.

“Otherwhere” is scheduled for publication on September 8, 2026.