“A Mixture of Urgency and Humor”
Compassion and connection remain the ultimate act of resistance in Annie Hendrix’s debut poetry collection, Misanthrope. Written in free verse and invented forms, these powerful and at times playful poems meditate on technology, interpersonal relationships, and humanity’s place in the natural world.
I first began compiling the manuscript for Misanthrope in Summer 2023, several months before the Gaza war began on October 7th. When I announced the book on social media in late October, amid the relentless circulation of violent propaganda, my community was in no headspace to appreciate this deviation from my role as a singer-songwriter and entertainer. I was openly mocked online by a fellow artist from my hometown and called a “Pale, weird, beat poet,” in a high-effort parody video in which he dressed as a mime. I was simultaneously offended and honored to be called, for the first time by an external entity, poet.
I submitted the manuscript to the Changes Book Prize and continued to write poems as I awaited rejection. My concern for the world, amid growing domestic and global political upheaval, was at an all-time high, and I began to look for answers from loved ones and elders. I visited my grandma and uncle, attended Bay Area Book Festival, where I connected with Working Families Party, and traveled to Asilomar Conference where I attended a lecture on pragmatism that highlighted the work of bell hooks and Cornel West. When I attended the conference, I had just read a relevant text, Ordinary Vices by Judith Shklar, and was able to discuss some of the concepts during the Q&A with Robert Shanklin, Ph.D. of Santa Clara University.
Ordinary Vices uses literary references to explore political philosophy; one such reference was The Misanthrope by Molière. It is essentially a dark comedy of manners about human connection and the tension between idealism and pragmatism. In both Shklar’s text and the play, I saw myself and the culture I inhabit. I saw the context of the political environment I grew up in: a liberal democracy struggling to tolerate its own inherent complexity. The poems in Misanthrope exist within that context. They are personal reflections on my life and my existence in a globalized pluralistic society, and so they are reflections of the world we all inhabit. They span the human experience, my experience, from profound to mundane: technology, grief, sex, music, human cruelty, and breakfast.
It’s about the mess of life and the mess of learning to love this modern world.
The manuscript was, thankfully, rejected by the Changes Book Prize and I am so relieved it was because the material was not ready at that time. In 2024, I joined Gold Country Writers and connected with my mentor, Bill Baynes. He provided critical feedback on the work and helped me narrow down what poems to include. In the time I was waiting for rejection from Changes, I wrote many of the poems I consider to be essential to the collection including “I Am the War,” and “When You Lose Someone You Love.”
The title of Misanthrope, much like the title of Molière’s comedy, is a subversion. The collection is, conversely, a rebellion against misanthropy. It’s a call for acceptance and celebration of the world we inhabit, of each other, of our culture, and of the natural world. Equally, it’s a reflection of my practice as a free verse poet, a simple presentation of my love of words and arranging them on the page, of enjoying the inherent musicality of language.
I hope you enjoy the poems. Some were written as early as 2007. Some were written as late as 2025. All reflect the past, my past, as a writer and a human being in our shared contemporary context.
Love eternal,
Annie
Thanks for reading!
Q: Where can I buy a copy?
A: From the Lulu store HERE
Q: I live in the U.K. or Europe, is shipping going to be expensive?
A: Affordable, local shipping is available for those in Europe and the U.K. as Lulu has printing facilities in both the U.K. and the U.S.
Q: Is it available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop?
A: The book has been submitted to IngramSpark and will be distributed to these retailers in time, but the best way to support me as an author is to purchase directly from the Lulu store.
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