You Do Not Have To Be Good

More about the book

Described by poet Deborah Landau as a "searing, necessary debut," You Do Not Have to Be Good is Trio House Press' 2019 Open Reading Selection. Organized around a series of absolving principals, poet Wayne Koestenbaum writes that the book "enacts a forgiveness journey, without false consolation," and instead, "speaks in praise of tenacious embroidery, steadfast retrieval, destinationless self-assemblage, and a pleasing neutrality...The book, an artfully composed act of ambiguous witness, addresses a 'you,'—a compassionate reader who will feel, as I do, grateful to Barnes for her high level of craft, wisdom, and emotional resourcefulness."