A Season in Hell with Rimbaud

First printing: 2,000 copies.

A Season in Hell with Rimbaud is Dustin Pearson's third poetry collection. His previous two collections, A Family Is a House and Millennial Roost, were published by C&R Press in 2019 and 2018 respectively.

In the trend of Silvia Garcia-Moreno's Mexican Gothic and Karen Tei Yamashita's Sansei and Sensibilities, Dustin Pearson reframes the Western literary canon in a diverse retelling of the travelogue-through-Hell genre from the perspective of a Black American poet.

Along with its literary influences, A Season in Hell with Rimbaud was inspired by an argument the author had with his brother nearly a decade ago. That argument forms the backbone of the collection, as the speaker and his brother's inability to communicate complicates their ability to navigate Hell. In the words of the author: "Language and emotion become physical and horrifying environments that live and shapeshift and smell."

In 2019, The Root named Pearson one of nine Black poets working in "academic, cultural and government institutions committed to elevating and preserving the poetry artform." His work has also been recognized and featured by producer Shonda Rhimes. In 2020, a film adaptation of his poem "The Flame in Mother's Mouth" won Best Collaboration at the Cadence Video Poetry Festival.

The title poem, "A Season in Hell with Rimbaud," won a 2021 Pushcart Prize. Another poem in the collection, "Lying Down," was featured in the January 27, 2021 issue of The Nation.

Pearson served as the editor of Hayden's Ferry Review (20162017) and as a Director of the Clemson Literary Festival (20102012).

Strong regional appeal in the South and the Bible Belt, as well as in communities where the Black church remains a neighborhood institution.

Strong academic appeal for Black studies, linguistics, English/European literature, African American literature, and comparative literature departments.

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