Ariana Reines and Eileen Myles on Horrible Fathers and Chosen Sons

In celebration of her book, Wave of Blood, Ariana Reines was joined by the great Eileen Myles for a special conversation and reading. The two hailed each other’s extraordinary careers in poetry, art, activism, and recovery—exploring poetic kinship, queer family, horrible and legendary fathers, and life after death.

Ariana says: “Back in 2015 I was at one of the lowest points in my life. Eileen and I already had this running joke going wherein I am the reincarnation of their dad, who died on my birthday (same day, different year). I was sobbing to Eileen on the phone from an airbnb in Medford, Massachusetts, when tearfully I said ‘Would your dad come back as a miserable, menstrual, femme Jewess from Salem, Massachusetts?’ And Eileen goes, “‘That’s exactly what he’d come back as. And he loved doing drag—this was and is his dream.” ♦