Sonnets from a Cell by Bradley Peters

Moving from riots to mall parkades to church, the poems in Bradley Peters’ debut Sonnets from a Cell mix inmate speech, prison psychology, skateboard slang and contemporary lyricism in a way that is tough and tender, that is accountable both to Peters’ own days “caught between the past and nothing” and to the structures that sentence so many “to lose.” Written behind doors our culture too often keeps closed, this is poetry reaching out for moments of longing, wild joy and grace.

Drawing on his own experiences as a teenager and young adult in and out of the Canadian prison system, Peters has written both a personal reckoning and a damning and eloquent account of our violence- and enforcement-obsessed capitalist and patriarchal cultures.

Praise for Sonnets from a Cell: 

“In Sonnets from a Cell, Peters distills liberation from his experiences of incarceration through the confines of the sonnet form with remarkable vulnerability and wit. These technically refined poems upend notions of who is “free” and who is “protected” by providing a nuanced, emotional framework for why the abolition of prison systems is so urgent. In his elegant and poignant debut, Peters writes with a refreshing and immediately memorable voice, inviting us to experience his thoughtful perspective as soon as we “[e]nter the cell and whisper Here I am.” — from the jurors of the Raymond Souster Award

“I’m struck by how artful a made thing this book is, a balance of real humility and expertise. An incredible feat.” — Sheryda Warrener, author of Test Piece and Floating Is Everything

Press Coverage for Sonnets from a Cell:

Bradley Peters: Sonnets from a Cell, solitary confinement, and how a sonnet is like prison — Q with Tom Power (CBC)

Not your high school teacher’s Shakespeare — The British Columbia Review