Chasing Sunshine (Lazy Adventurer Publishing)
Carter’s Debut Chapbook!
This product is now out of print.
Exploring the dark shadows that come with the coming-of-age through the lens of a young gay man, Charles K. Carter’s Chasing Sunshine journeys through heartaches and head-spinning questions of one’s identity. Carter provides a different perspective on what it feels like when you’re on the sidelines whilst also having a scrutinizing spotlight over your head, and how these feelings and traumas can transcend into adulthood. And within his pieces that offer his heart out to the world, Carter also shows a glimmer of hope and growth in self. Of the possibility of love. Of the possibility for more.
Playlist
Click here to check out a playlist curated by Carter himself to accompany Chasing Sunshine.
Advanced Praise
“In Chasing Sunshine by Charles K. Carter, the reader is taken through an exploration of sexuality and gender through the lens of a growing child through to adulthood and the desire and search for happiness that still persists. Such themes guide this chapbook towards a beautiful, heartfelt ending. This collection speaks to the gay experience through the lens of modern society and the attacks that the entire LGBTQIA+ faces from childhood to adulthood. I particularly enjoyed the persistent usage of contrasting imagery to present the duality of the gay experience. Desperation, lust and self-growth present a complex picture of life in the modern world as the ‘other’. The use of form in this particular chapbook is intriguing and reinforces the overarching narrative of the collection through a mix of experimental and more standardized forms. In addition, allies can learn how to better understand LGBTQIA+ people from gaining a deep, insightful and highly emotive perspective on their trials and tribulations and in particular, the sadness and abuse that comes with being an ‘outsider’. The use of bold and verbose language highlights the innate truths that follow all people who grow up facing the constraining hand of homophobia. Finally, the greatest takeaway from Charles K. Carter’s Chasing Sunshine is that it does get better! Through pain, bitter nights and yearning, Carter writes his truth, a universal truth, that love is love in this world.” – A.R. Salandy, author of The Great Northern Journey
“Chasing Sunshine is an apt title for this heartfelt and often heartbreaking collection of poems that chronicles the young life of a queer poet as he struggles with finding his identity as an outlier in a straight male dominated family and world. The voice in these poems speaks for many who have had to confront an uber-male father, bullies, and a hateful culture. The reader journeys with the poet as he explores his sexuality and sensuality, finding safety where he can on the shore, in a car wash, in the arms of a lover. It is a triumphant voice, that inspires the reader, especially anyone struggling with their identity, as we all have, whatever our natural impulses and characteristics.” – Richard Stuecker, author of The Uncertainty Principle
Charles K. Carter 