The 2004 winner of the Yale Younger Poets competition: a powerful, confessional, erotic collection 
 
An Atlantic choice for “Best American Poetry of the 21st Century (So Far)”
 
Finalist for the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry
 
“Siken writes about love, desire, violence, and eroticism with a cinematic brilliance and urgency that makes this one of the best books of contemporary poetry.”—Victoria Chang, Huffington Post
 
Richard Siken’s Crush, selected as the 2004 winner of the Yale Younger Poets prize, is a powerful collection of poems driven by obsession and love. Siken writes with ferocity, and his reader hurtles unstoppably with him. His poetry is confessional, gay, savage, and charged with violent eroticism. In the world of American poetry, Siken’s voice is striking.