Alex Lemon

A muse can take many forms: nature, a lover, a feeling. Local writer Alex Lemon found his muse in brain surgery. The 27-year-old's first poetry collection, Mosquito, was written during the painful process of recovering from the operation. Lemon's poetry vibrates with emotion and is tinged with bitterness. The poems in Hallelujah Blackout display a joy for life and the ability to write, but are often bolstered by anger, perhaps aimed at his need for surgery. Lemon writes in a way one would expect a young author who has been forced to deal with health issues beyond his years would. He lashes out at the unfairness of his situation, and espouses pure honesty. "Please don't think that I'm in love with the way you swear. For a long time I have wanted nothing more than to bring this to your attention," reads the end of "So Soon." It's this kind of frankness at the intersection of writing that is blunt, funny, and forthright that makes Lemon's work so intriguing. If he can bring this same feeling to prose, his upcoming memoir will be a joy to read.
Sat., April 5, 6 p.m., 2008