By: Andrew Meyers
In Hymns for the Hollow, poet Adam James Zahren crafts a deeply evocative collection—part memoir, part invocation—charged with raw emotion, luminous queerness, and unapologetic vulnerability. It’s a book that reaches out to those who may feel like outsiders, inviting them to engage in a deeper reflection and experience a connection that encourages introspection.
For Zahren, queerness isn’t just a theme. It’s an integral part of his voice, the lens through which he navigates life and expresses it through verse. “Queerness has been part of my life since nearly as long as I can remember,” he reflects. As a child, he was already immersed in the queer mythos—captivated by The Wizard of Oz, dreaming of Judy Garland, and even blowing bubbles at her grave with his grandmother’s help. These early experiences, steeped in tenderness and imagination, set the stage for a lifetime of poetic exploration and self-inquiry.
But the real transformation began in a car ride, with the speakers echoing “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. The lyric—“Well, if that’s love, it comes at much too high a cost”—struck something deep in Zahren. It was a revelation: that love from others, while beautiful, would never be the source of self-validation. From that moment, poetry became not just an outlet, but a compass to guide him.
“Writing is the most extraordinary form of healing,” Zahren says. It’s not just art—it’s survival. Each poem in Hymns for the Hollow is a testament to that survival, chronicling years of emotional labor and personal growth. The book is both a call for resilience and a means of comfort, forged in loneliness and illuminated by self-love. Echoing Rainer Maria Rilke’s question—“Must I write?”—Zahren’s answer is always yes. Without writing, he insists, he wouldn’t be where he is today.
The collection’s title, Hymns for the Hollow, suggests more than just sorrow—it evokes music as home, sound as sanctuary. If the poems had a soundtrack, Zahren imagines a sonic world woven from the cinematic strings of Requiem for a Dream and the moody glamour of I Saw the TV Glow. Think shimmering melancholy from artists like Ethel Cain and Chappell Roan, bolstered by sharp lyrics and earth-shaking bass lines. “Genre queer,” he calls it—a defiant mix that, like the book, embraces the refusal to conform to tradition or expectation.
Ultimately, Hymns for the Hollow is more than a poetry collection. It’s an emotional journey, a reclamation of power through language and imagery. Zahren doesn’t just want his readers to cry or reflect. He hopes they experience a change within themselves, as if they’ve found something they didn’t know was missing. “I want them to feel a sense of comfort,” he says, “Like they’ve just gotten the biggest hug.” The book is a catalyst—for love, kindness, bravery—and a reminder that we are never truly alone in our humanity or longing.
If he could send one poem back through time to his younger self, it would be “Hand Mirror.” Bold and unflinching, it holds the kind of confidence he once thought unreachable. “I hope that version of me would see the brilliance and bravery inside him,” he says. And what he wishes for that child, he wishes for every reader who encounters these poems: a sharp tongue, an open heart, and the courage to stand in their own light.
In the end, Hymns for the Hollow doesn’t ask readers to escape—it invites them to arrive. To step inside the storm of becoming, and come out glittering. As the book reminds us: You don’t need to click your heels. Just surrender to the storm. It knows the way home.
To pick up a copy of Hymns for the Hollow or find out more about Adam James Zahren, head over to Amazon.
Disclaimer: The content in Hymns for the Hollow is a personal artistic expression by Adam James Zahren and reflects his individual experiences and perspectives. While many readers may resonate with the themes of self-discovery, queerness, and survival, individual interpretations and experiences may vary. The information presented in this article is for informational purposes only and does not guarantee any specific emotional or personal outcomes for readers. The book is a work of poetry and should be understood as a creative exploration rather than a prescriptive guide.
