Behavior of the Antagonized

Behavior of the Antagonized is a coming-of-age collection that traces one woman’s evolution from girlhood into self-possession. Set against the backdrop of rural California, these poems move through broken mirrors, inherited expectations, queerness, yearning, and the quiet defiance of taking up space. Baldwin examines what it means to grow under scrutiny — to be called dramatic, excessive, too much — and to transform that antagonism into authorship. Intimate and unflinching, this debut collection explores survival, spectacle, and becoming, offering a voice that refuses to quiet and insists on its own complexity.