Game Over Books, paperback
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
Publisher Marketing: NEITHER CREATED NOR DESTROYED explores the joy of "contradiction" in queer/trans-Muslim identity, lessons from the laws of thermodynamics, and diasporic longing. In their debut collection, poet-engineer Zara Jamshed draws on memoir, theater, chemistry, and physics to convey a queer Muslim disabled experience of global pandemic, religious practice, and relationships to family and lineage. This poetry book embodies the interconnected threads of culture and science, racism and environment, personal and communal justice, and the potential to remake hegemonic systems and structures. Jamshed uses the theatrical framing of ancestral visitations to explore chaotic and fragmented identity, journeying from the frayed gendered experience of Pakistani-American and Muslim diaspora from a post 9/11 New York City to the Bay Area to a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Poetry. LGBTQ+ Studies.
