Published in 2017 by Guernica Editions, Words For What Those Men Have Done continues my exploration, begun in The Silence Of Men, of how surviving childhood sexual violence has shaped my life as man, impacting how I understand, personally and politically, my own manhood and masculinity, my sexuality, what it means to be a friend, a lover, a husband, and a father. The animating question at the center of this book is What does it means for a man who has survived sexual violence to commit himself never to standing on the same side of gender and sexual politics as the men who violated him? Unfortunately, Words For What Those Men Have Done is officially out of print, though Guernica Editions has a few copies left. If you're interested in one, I encourage you to buy directly from them, since it's important to support small presses. If, on the other hand, you would like to get a signed copy, please contact me directly.
Reviews
"When sex is used to violate a human being, it cripples the soul. In response to such violation, Richard Newman has written Words For What Those Men Have Done as a message to his son, who will one day need to make a decision regarding his allegiance to the victim or the violator. In poem after poem, Newman delves into the nature of violence, and the most startling is the poet facing his own violation, wondering how to love despite being traumatized and how to love without violating another."
Pramila Venkateswaran, author of The Singer of Alleppey
"In many ways, this collection represents a man’s 'Me-too,' a reminder that one doesn’t have to be female to have one’s life blighted by a predatory man in a position of greater power. Of course, thousands of boys harmed by unscrupulous priests could deliver this reminder, but few have felt empowered to do so; even fewer, as far as I know,have been poets...As I opened [Words For What Those Men Have Done], I steeled myself against lurid accounts of damaged woman and children. I turned out to be right in guessing the gist of the book, but wrong in arming myself against it. One of [Newman's] strengths lies in good pacing. The poet does not belabor the news we hear every day about the victimization of women and children everywhere. This poet has the humanity, mastery, and tact to make his words a source of enrichment." Read the whole review below.
Sarah White, American Book Review
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