Writer | Poet | Performer
a debut collection
gynandromorph
"Gynandromorph is a liberatory dance against our oppressors. A 'sin fest' of 'silicon hardons', 'teeth and talons'. These poems remind us to keep raging and resting, and if we must, to die fighting."
- Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, poet, facilitator and creative producer
In this unabashedly horny and experimental ride through gender identity, chronic illness, sex and the self, poet and activist George Parker digs into what it means to exist and how a person moves through a world that doesn’t always understand - or want to understand - life outside the binary.
Praise for Gynandromorph
"When you lift the front cover of Gynandromorph, an ‘ocean of lust’ spills into your lap. This collection vibrates with unapologetic radical joy for a funny, sexy ride."
- Lalah-Simone Springer, poet and speculative fiction writer, author of An Aviary of Common Birds
"When I pick up collections of poetry, I never expect to see myself in any capacity. My story of queerness and disability often has no place in the prose of poetry – relegated instead to textbooks or underviewed policy reports or theses that go unread. You can imagine my surprise when reading the new collection by GV Parker when I saw my story come to life. I was stopped in my tracks as I read their words – ones that so eloquently, unapologetically put my story front and center. The way Parker weaves sexuality, disability alongside the stark realities of living in the margins of disability is something to behold, cherish and above all else, listen to."
- Andrew Gurza, award-winning disability consultant, podcast host, author, activist, and actor.
"Gynandromorph will make you sweat. Parker's punchy and slick wordplay slams to the fore, dazzling with a mix of tight rhymes and verdant imagery. They open a door into themselves you're going to want to step through. You'll be taken to Greece, Grease (Lightning) and get greased up. These poems will give you the best fuck of your life and then make you breakfast... You're going to need to roll a cigarette."
- Crow Rudd, Creator & Host of Sad Poets Doorstep Club
"Whip smart, hotter than hell’s aspirational top temperatures and taut thoughts that crackle with ecstatic tension. Eat this up then read it again. Consume Gyandromorph with the heaving delight of a last meal. George Violet Parker knows how to top the alphabet and your senses. Say yes please and dive in. "
- Jasper Peach, author, activist, and creator
"Gynandromorph makes of George Violet Parker’s ‘body-cathedral’ a piñata, which spills diamonds and wildflowers, strapons and sweat, cheap beer and sang de règles, with a charred confetti of DWP letters. Grab the goodies while you can."
- Matt Alton, poet, performer, and an Apple and Snakes Future Voice.
'Like the genderqueer organism that gives the book its title, Gynandromorph introduces an extravagant voice that knows itself. 'Show me your dents' one poem says, and here is a dented, unbuttoned poetry, cast in a voice both wanting and wanton, and, at times, as delightfully kitschy as a John Waters film. 'Stories are wound around my lips' Parker writes, and this book is full of stories. A Wyvern stands in a club cloakroom, and Cthulhu and Sisyphus are to be found at the gym. Like the best drag performances, there is a serious intent behind this work, and a beating heart in what one poem calls the 'gender glistening' landscape of these words. Parker's poems don't lose sight of those who have 'blundered away from north'. As alert to the lacerating 'faded conclusion of a sneer' as to the tragicomedy of 'death's throbbing knob', Parker's poems look toward people who 'choose life as the world falls down'.'
- Karl Knights, a freelance journalist. His poetry and prose has appeared in the Guardian, The Dark Horse, Poetry London and elsewhere. He lives in Suffolk. Kin is his debut pamphlet.