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(On |Un-)Becoming: Poems
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 2, 2026
I picked this book up at Cheche bookstore in Nairobi, a space that specialises in liberation writing and revolutionary texts. This is a poetry book from a queer Kenyan-American spoken word artist with an abundance of commitment to and conviction about their own perspective.
My favourite poems from the collection were:
- a lesson July learned from June
- poem for my daughters, mothers, sistas, AunTeas & grandmas
- Colonialism says to the Kenyan
- when i say i love you
I also shared the poem, for yWWAV, with two of my youth worker friends, who both expressed feeling moved and seen by the poem and its message about their work.
This indie collection, published in what is described by its producers as an unwelcoming industry, deserves to be appraised on its whole being as a work of multi-media art, rather than a poetry collection alone. It uses photography and mixed media images of a high quality with precise visual storytelling. It’s deliberate and personal, right down to the handwritten signature in the first page of my copy and a printed message to the reader nestled as a slip of paper in its pages.
I can appreciate the personal touches, and the thought that has clearly gone into the art direction of this work. The author refuses to conform to gender norms and formal language, and does so with an expansive intention, by introducing their various selves (of various genders) to us as co-authors, each with their own chapter and associated photoshoot.
The collection is so deeply personal that it doesn’t feel right to offer a critique in the way that I might with other writings: there is a distinct feeling in the works (and particularly the footnotes) that the authors are not interested in literary critique anyway, and that the intended audience is their mother first, black queers second, and, lowkey nobody else that’s not with the programme, so I’m going to respect that.
I will say, on a personal note, I found myself moved by and a bit jealous of how entitled (in a healthy way) the authors are in demanding to be seen by their mother, showcasing the obvious love, respect and rapport that exists between them. I wonder what that’s like!
My favourite poems from the collection were:
- a lesson July learned from June
- poem for my daughters, mothers, sistas, AunTeas & grandmas
- Colonialism says to the Kenyan
- when i say i love you
I also shared the poem, for yWWAV, with two of my youth worker friends, who both expressed feeling moved and seen by the poem and its message about their work.
This indie collection, published in what is described by its producers as an unwelcoming industry, deserves to be appraised on its whole being as a work of multi-media art, rather than a poetry collection alone. It uses photography and mixed media images of a high quality with precise visual storytelling. It’s deliberate and personal, right down to the handwritten signature in the first page of my copy and a printed message to the reader nestled as a slip of paper in its pages.
I can appreciate the personal touches, and the thought that has clearly gone into the art direction of this work. The author refuses to conform to gender norms and formal language, and does so with an expansive intention, by introducing their various selves (of various genders) to us as co-authors, each with their own chapter and associated photoshoot.
The collection is so deeply personal that it doesn’t feel right to offer a critique in the way that I might with other writings: there is a distinct feeling in the works (and particularly the footnotes) that the authors are not interested in literary critique anyway, and that the intended audience is their mother first, black queers second, and, lowkey nobody else that’s not with the programme, so I’m going to respect that.
I will say, on a personal note, I found myself moved by and a bit jealous of how entitled (in a healthy way) the authors are in demanding to be seen by their mother, showcasing the obvious love, respect and rapport that exists between them. I wonder what that’s like!
December 2, 2025
(On |Un-)Becoming: Poems
by FreeQuency
Thank you to Button Poetry for the gifted copy! ✨🖤📚
Atlas-Style Review
(On |Un-)Becoming is a striking, introspective collection that blurs boundaries, between poem and confession, self and community, past and future. • FreeQuency writes with a voice that is both fierce and tender, exploring what it means to shed versions of yourself while still carrying the histories, violences, migrations, and inheritances that shaped you.
It’s a book rooted in conversation - with mothers, with chosen family, with younger and older selves. • The result feels like a hybrid of poem, prayer, and personal reckoning, full of fragmentation, rhythm, and emotional candor.
What Resonates
• The way the collection queers and expands the idea of “transition,” refusing to confine it to gender alone.
• Themes of Blackness, diaspora, displacement, and communal memory.
• A refusal to fit neatly into genre or form, very much an anti-disciplinary, anti-box project.
What Didn’t Fully Click for Me
• At times the style felt intentionally disjointed in a way that made it harder to connect to certain pieces.
• Some poems hit deeply while others felt more conceptual than emotional.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)
A bold, experimental collection with moments of real beauty, introspection, and power—perfect for readers who love poetic hybridity, political lyricism, and work that challenges structure as much as subject
by FreeQuency
Thank you to Button Poetry for the gifted copy! ✨🖤📚
Atlas-Style Review
(On |Un-)Becoming is a striking, introspective collection that blurs boundaries, between poem and confession, self and community, past and future. • FreeQuency writes with a voice that is both fierce and tender, exploring what it means to shed versions of yourself while still carrying the histories, violences, migrations, and inheritances that shaped you.
It’s a book rooted in conversation - with mothers, with chosen family, with younger and older selves. • The result feels like a hybrid of poem, prayer, and personal reckoning, full of fragmentation, rhythm, and emotional candor.
What Resonates
• The way the collection queers and expands the idea of “transition,” refusing to confine it to gender alone.
• Themes of Blackness, diaspora, displacement, and communal memory.
• A refusal to fit neatly into genre or form, very much an anti-disciplinary, anti-box project.
What Didn’t Fully Click for Me
• At times the style felt intentionally disjointed in a way that made it harder to connect to certain pieces.
• Some poems hit deeply while others felt more conceptual than emotional.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)
A bold, experimental collection with moments of real beauty, introspection, and power—perfect for readers who love poetic hybridity, political lyricism, and work that challenges structure as much as subject
June 28, 2026
The poets know. This book took me apart and put me back together. I treasured this book. I have so many highlights from the book.
a poem is a protest is my absolute favorite poem in this book. A Callarse (To Keep Quiet) by Pablo Neruda meant so much to me I printed it and kept it close. Tall Poppies by Gregory Pardlo had that same effect. a poem is a protest is the third absolutely life changing poem in my list.
My other favorites are
when i say i love you
Black People Don't Need Therapy (ft Akeem Olaj)
a “poem”|on poetics
Lettering Free(dom)
on apocalypse (haiku series)
Love Letter to Would Be Lovers
a poem is a protest is my absolute favorite poem in this book. A Callarse (To Keep Quiet) by Pablo Neruda meant so much to me I printed it and kept it close. Tall Poppies by Gregory Pardlo had that same effect. a poem is a protest is the third absolutely life changing poem in my list.
My other favorites are
when i say i love you
Black People Don't Need Therapy (ft Akeem Olaj)
a “poem”|on poetics
Lettering Free(dom)
on apocalypse (haiku series)
Love Letter to Would Be Lovers
December 23, 2025
I attended the official release of this book, and wow was that a night! FreeQuency has put so much love and labor into this work, and you can feel it. There’s also so much wisdom in here. I also loved the addition of photos. The notes at the end will make you feel all the feels! Definitely recommend!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews