Bookshelf: Death casts a long shadow over retrospective poetry collection

Unlike traditional retrospective collections, “Wonder & Wreckage” forgoes segregating old poems from new ones in lieu of weaving them together to create a narrative. And it doesn’t include some of the poems Kelley is most known for because they didn’t fit the concept for the volume, which centers around mortality and Kelley’s beloved uncle, Terry Graves, who died from AIDS.

“I grew up in the ‘80s as the genocide of AIDS was allowed to ravage the gay community by callous, uncaring politicians like Reagan and Thatcher,” Kelley writes in the introduction. “The specter of HIV/AIDS clouded my coming out, my sexual freedom and took the people I loved.”

“Wonder & Wreckage” immortalizes Kelley’s uncle, who lived in San Francisco in the height of the AIDS crisis, but it also delivers a chilling reminder of a critical moment in history that is in danger of fading from our collective memory.

“There’s a total disconnect between the current LGBTQ+ generation and what happened because it’s so removed now,” said Kelley. “But that history can’t be lost. If this book adds anything to that narrative, to that history, that will please me because, in this career that I’ve had, I didn’t want to not say anything. I wanted this to be a book that marked a period of time.”

The collection also reflects on the death of Kelley’s mother and his own experience facing mortality when he was diagnosed in 2021 with a rare and aggressive form of cancer that developed in a salivary gland.

“That’s really the bizarre thing about it is the book was … already about death and then my mother’s passing and my own diagnosis, it just added those extra layers of death, grimness, mortality,” he said.

It’s worth noting that “Wonder & Wreckage” is not all doom and gloom, though. It’s about the whole spectrum of life, including childhood, family, first crushes, love, sex, travel, pop culture icons and more.

After undergoing surgery and radiation therapy, Kelley happily reports he is cancer-free, but the experience put him on intimate terms with the endgame. Attuned to the fact our time on Earth is finite, he’s prioritized his future literary projects, and they do not include writing poetry.

“I feel like I’ve put a period at the end of a long sentence with this collection and with this body of work,” he said. “This feels like a career capper.”

Kelley still has plans to edit a poetry anthology, but when it comes to writing, he has some fiction projects that are burning a hole in his pocket. They include a collection of linked short stories set in the same small Southern town and a sequel to his Venus trilogy, a mystery series set in Memphis and Paris.

“I’m unsure when this cancer is going to come back, and there is a very likely chance that it will eventually return, and when it does return there is no cure, I’ve done all the (preventive measures) I can do. So I am not dwelling on it, but I am also just trying to complete what I want to complete and enjoy the time I have.”

As for his legacy, Kelley believes he will leave behind “a good body of work,” if he can complete the anthology, the novel and the short story collection. In addition, the cataloging of his archives at Georgia State University Library was recently completed.

“For the last three or four years I’ve been working with them to catalog all of my papers, ephemera, first drafts and the LGTBQ-related memorabilia about Atlanta that I had,” he said. “Having a home for all of my stuff feels really nice. … It’s nice to know that the stuff will live on beyond me.”

The book launch for “Wonder & Wreckage” features Kelley in conversation with Karen Head at 7 p.m. April 30 at Decatur Library. For details go to georgiacenterforthebook.org. Kelley will also present a virtual reading 7:30 p.m. June 12. For information go to wildandpreciouslifeseries.com.

Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She can be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.