april, buttersoft by nat raum
Published November 2025
PDF Micro-chapbook

With cool, precise syntax across ten little self-discoveries, raum hands the reader a mangy bouquet, but it’s actually all on fire, and now your hair has caught, and you are both the gently burning house and the figure at the kitchen table wondering if repainting the walls will fix everything. Is there a point to rebuilding when destruction is inevitable? april, buttersoft is looking in the mirror one late night, answering. 
– Stephanie Anderson, author of SOMEONE ELSE’S FEELINGS

the ennui of stagnant rage is so familiar to me, and this collection makes me want to walk down to the beach and stare into the sea for hours. it’s gender euphoria as unearthing the unknown, making your own mythology, and a contemplative journey in conversation with their earlier works. i was speaking to someone not long ago about whether or not you can brace yourself for grief, if you can pre-grieve. the answer is front and center in this collection–you sure can try.
– Romy Rhoads Ewing, author of please stay

nat raum (they) is a disabled artist, writer, and genderless disaster based on unceded Piscataway and Susquehannock land in Baltimore. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore and a BFA in Photography and Book Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. nat is the editor-in-chief of fifth wheel press and the author of fruits of the valley, journal of various worries, this book will not save you, and many other collections featuring poetry, prose, photography, and other acts of hybridity. Their writing and artwork have been published by Gone Lawn, beestung, Soft Lightning Studio, Split Lip Magazine, BRUISER, and others.