Aurum is a fiercely original poetry collection that reveals the marginalized and estranged Native American experience in the wake of industrial progress. With unforgettable imagery and haunting honesty, these poems are powerfully resonant.
 

Santee Frazier received his BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and his MFA from Syracuse University. Frazier is director of the Institute of American Indian Arts Low Residency MFA Program. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

“Part testimony, part archival project, Aurum is constructed of disparate narratives and fragments, lists of objects, and a series of drawings. These poems, like fine jewels, radiate through an impenetrable darkness like the lives depicted in this triumphant collection.”—Cynthia Cruz

“Frazier’s poetic indigeneity is neither framed nor calibrated in a rote or calculated way: of course not. Its concerned cadences surpass those of mere decipherment of the tale. Aurum is extraordinary.” —Joan Naviyuk Kane

“Aurum is a trove of sensations. These poems leap in the mind with a mix of acuity and wildness. Santee Frazier’s verbal intensities radiate from a deeply meditative marrow. His poems feel simultaneously allegorical and personal, relaxed and rigorous. Technical mastery is tethered to soul. Each time I read this book, I am more amazed.”—Terrance Hayes