The Afterlife of Sweetness

The Afterlife of Sweetness is a debut poetry collection by Jaia Hamid Bashir. This volume of poetry explores the complexities of a Muslim American girlhood, searching for beauty within waste and mercy through defiance. Bashir weaves together Islamic theology, Hindu and Greek epics, and personal memory to examine the erotic contours of belief and the hunger for identity.

The poems in The Afterlife of Sweetness move through diverse landscapes, from the American West and abandoned mining towns to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By braiding myth with memory, the author confronts the sacred and the profane to understand how to endure love and time. This work of poetry serves as a pilgrimage that locates holiness within the immediate, tangible world.