Jillian Stacia, Amy Laessle-Morgan, Veronica Tucker
Let me tell you about three books I love by Jillian Stacia, Amy Laessle-Morgan, & Veronica Tucker!
I have several more books I want to highlight as part of Summer of Reviews, so I am taking a break to make way for the Sealey Challenge and will resume the series in September. If you want to have your book considered for inclusion in the series, reach out.
The reviewer: Rachel Turney is a former art reviewer for New City Magazine. She is currently the writer in residence at NKollectiv and hosts the Trident Women’s Writing Group. Rachel is a poetry mentor with AWP. She runs Poetry (in Brief), an online reading series and magazine. She is a staff writer for Bareback Magazine and a poetry reader for The Los Angeles Review. She is the author of two books: Record Player Life (the b-side) and Retired Wannabe Club Kid. Sign up for her newsletter and learn more on the website.
Set the Bones by Jillian Stacia
Arcana Poetry Press
Set the Bone brings together everything I love in one solid collection: feminism, humor, a sharp sense of wit, rage juxtaposed by quiet suburban life, and excellent writing. I am being brief here because I have a full-length review in the works for Jillian, but I want to share my favorite poems from the collection:
“When RFK Comes For My Antidepressants" - loved the gender flip and commentary on health care here.
“Mother Eve” - loved the commentary on the deletion and obscuring of women in history. This was especially interesting to me right now because I am also reading Eve, a theological restructuring of women in history, by B.K. O’Connor.
“A Love Like Stinky Cheese” - loved the exposure of life being about the little daily things and how finding joy in that is beautiful.
But my favorite poem, “Only Female Mosquitoes Drink Blood,” has just 11 words. Blood boiling and blood chilling all at once. 10/10
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Live Wire by Amy Laessle-Morgan
Neon Sparrow Press
Grief and beauty converge in Amy’s collection with a backdrop of haunting longing. The photographs and poems convey that blend of balance and unease very well. The collection is unique and approachable with a good balance of the bleak and the hopeful.
Here are a few lines I love that capture the essence of the collection:
“tilt the day askew”
“press my cheek against the quiet”
“outrun the shadows that had already learned to cling by age eleven”
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The House as Witness by Veronica Tucker
Quillkeepers Press
As the title suggests, this is a chapbook about a house - literally and also in all the things a home is and means to the variety of human conditions. Here, I want to share some ideas that stood out to me surrounding the beautiful and thoughtful capturing of architectural structure and home.
Veronica compares …
snow to a shy animal in “Spring at the Edge of the Yard.”
mother to “a shoreline giving way to tide” in “The Hallway Between Us.”
raindrops to “a world turned upside down” in “Rain Through the Screened Porch.”
land to memory in “The Yard Beyond the Fence.”
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A note from Rachel: I am looking for folks to review my two books with small presses, too! Record Player Life (the b-side) and Retired Wannabe Club Kid. If you can write a review for me and help spread the word about my collections, please email me for a free digital review copy.
Thank you. The books are also for sale on my website: TURNEYTALKS.COMturneytalks@gmail.com
