MATTHEWS, Airea D. Bread and Circus. New York: Scribner, May 2023. 96 p.; ill.; 23 x 15 cm.; ill blue dust jacket with text in white and black.

In this short of but mighty book, Airea D. Matthews gifts us with a book that seamlessly transcends genres. Part memoire, part volume of poetry, and part activist manifesto, Bread and Circus defies traditional categorization. This is no surprise coming from Philadelphia’s current poet laureate : after all, she trained in Creative Writing, but also in Public Policy as well as in Economics. Several poems are a detournement of Guy Debord, while others turns Adam Smith on its head. Matthews accomplishes this feat by taking an inspiration from visual and typographical techniques inspired by Dada, Futurists, and concrete poetry, among others. An astonishing book in the Situationist vein, that leaves the reader wishing for more. A must read!