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Following 2017’s Calling a Wolf a Wolf, Kaveh Akbar makes a bracing return with his second collection of poetry, Pilgrim Bell, which considers the spiritual and the tangible with equal gravitas. Equally resolute in his honesty and his sensitivity, Akbar uses language to make his poetry a tangible medium. By inviting readers to engage viscerally with his work, exploring everything from his family’s move from Iran to America to his struggles with faith and sobriety, the volume explores the nuances and contradictions of living in a body and a country that’s often at odds with your soul.

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