New Books Network Eli Clare, "Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming" (Duke UP, 2025)
Nov 21, 2025
Eli Clare, a talented writer and activist, discusses their new book, blending poetry and creative nonfiction to explore the intersections of queerness, disability, and ecology. They delve into the idea of survivals and sorrows, reflecting on personal trauma and the fierce connections between humans and nature. Eli emphasizes the importance of non-linear time, critiques institutional categorization, and introduces concepts like access intimacy. The conversation becomes an invitation to embrace rebellion, joy, and the beautiful multiplicity of identities.
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Book Born From A Commission
- A 2017 commission to write a poem for Alice Sheppard's performance Descent became the title poem and seeded the book.
- That commission led Clare to explore becoming, porousness, and kin, shaping Unfurl's origin.
Practices Over Themes
- Clare frames four ongoing practices: remembering, survival and sorrow, porousness, and dreaming as active, time-spanning processes.
- He chose "practices" to emphasize movement and responsiveness rather than static themes.
Time As Accordion
- Clare rejects linear time and uses metaphors like accordion and trapdoor to describe fluid temporality.
- He draws on disability studies and grief time to rethink past, present, and future as entangled.
