Natalie Wee

OUR BODIES & OTHER FINE MACHINES
Poetry, Words Dance Publishing, 2016

THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT

PRAISE

“...a rare kind of bravery.”
—The Literary Review

“…Wee writes about anyone and everyone in a collection that is not hers, rather, it is ours.”
—The Rising Phoenix Review

“...beauty with devastating precision… The poems here are pure alchemy” 
—Winter Tangerine

“...pure music… Our Bodies & Other Fine Machines is a testimony to pain, to the soft, to the angry” 
—The Columbia Poetry Review

“When Wee surprises, she does so with astonishing clarity.” 
—The Missing Slate

FEATURED

"30 Books by 30 Queer Canadian Writers," Room Magazine


“Natalie Wee’s Our Bodies & Other Fine Machines is a roadmap. Of words, yes. Of well crafted images (“your name tucked under my tongue, an unraveling string that pulls & pulls.") But more than just that, this book thrills and pulls you in, showing you a history, a lineage, an invitation into Wee’s room, both in its cleanest and messiest moments. This is a stunning work by a powerful writer. The work in this book grabs on to all of the right emotions, and never lets go.”
—Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib, Author of The Crown Ain't Worth Much

“This debut is breathtaking. Wee’s writing drops you into her world and you do not want to leave. Her portrait of girlhood from an outsider still feelsas intimate and relentlessly soft as any old Polaroid plucked fromyour mother’s scrapbook. The poetry here is raw and refined, bloody and delicate, a whole body of work that turns our elusive moments into fine tuned pieces of machinery. Rarely do I find myself in awe of the beauty of language, both diction and visually. Even the shape of Wee’s words are gorgeous.

Though this is Wee’s first collection, she writes with a steady hand and a steadier voice. Wee’s perspective is genuine, honest, and highly crafted. Our Bodies & Other Fine Machines is a bouquet arranged with every blossom and thorn for us to witness.”
—Alex Dang!, Author of Are You Proud of Me?

“Natalie Wee’s writing is indicative of a wordsmith-master utilizing all her tools with precision. Wee says the words we think, and then reshapes them, out loud, into beautiful origami-like gifts that hit you like “stray bullets splinter technicolour lovers.” The intricacies of her images walk a fine line that hover closely over genius, and the supernatural. From her well thought-out use of white space, enjambments, and form, Our Bodies and Other Fine Machines tells tales of hurt, pain, lust, love and all that lurks between leaving the “unsayable hung in our mouths.”
—Chelene Knight, Managing Editor of Room Magazine

“In Our Bodies & Other Fine Machines, Natalie Wee asks, “What is it like to be made a person / instead of a stranger’s dim shadow?” and reveals, “my bones are heavy with the weight of never having been seen at all.” It is with just such rigor and grace that Wee demands sight throughout this collection. Illuminating myriad ways queer women of color are silenced, dismissed, and unseen, she uses her vibrant voice as a call to attention. At times demure, yet always potent: “Mine was not a magic / of large curses but small misfortunes,” Wee opens a necessary and vulnerable space for the silenced. “My hands have made / some good mistakes,” she confides, but warns, “Do not mistake my silence / for subservience.” These pages are alive with determination to be heard, seen, understood. There is an urgency here one cannot escape, expressed entirely in Wee’s own careful and knowing language. More than remarkable, this book is necessary.”
—Jeanann Verlee, Author of Racing Hummingbirds & Said the Manic to the Muse