'Writing during the Disasters' is devoted to conceptualizing the relation between suffering and
poetic writing. This monograph investigates contemporary experimental American poetry which
addresses forms of suffering that are largely entwined with structural dynamics. The book
elaborates how particular poetic practices "materialize" and "write through" ongoing conditions
of suffering which shape the present. In its interaction with works by seven poets and one
artist collective this study mobilizes and interlaces a variety of critical theoretical
approaches - from affect theory queer theory Afropessimism Black feminism and new
materialisms to psychoanalysis dialectical materialism and deconstruction. Moreover this
study develops novel terminological renditions of the nexus between suffering and literary
representation. Ultimately 'Writing during the Disasters' argues for "suffering" to be
considered a valid and more prominent category of analysis in cultural and literary studies.
