After the Witch Hunt

by Megan Falley

As if she discovered a small army of silenced women captive in her pen, Megan Falley releases them in the spilled ink that is her most brilliant collection of poems, After the Witch Hunt. Demanding "if you really love a writer, bury her in all your awful and watch as she scrawls her way out," her book does exactly that. An incessant digging, a journey in building escape routes, armed with both humor and a brazen darkness, each poem in this book of bloodletting is another swing of the pick and axe in this young woman"s labor, insistent upon light.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Nonfiction, LGBT, 21st Century

90 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

After receiving her degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the State University of New York at New Paltz, Megan left her college town slam poet legacy for a bigger stage in NYC. Since then she has been published in a party of literary magazines including PANK, The Legendary, Kill Author, decomP magazinE, and The Literary Bohemian. In 2010 she recorded a CD, A Damsel's Guide to Distress, whose tracks were featured on the spoken word podcast IndieFeed. Falley is best known for her fearlessness in subject matter, metaphor and performance.

Reviews

[Liz Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was read for the #readwomen month.
My favourite poem by her is "Fat Girl", which although here, I prefer to listen to her perform.
This collection felt a little bit flat compared to the poems I have seen her perform, but that is a personal preference, since some of those written here are actually on YouTube.
Her most powerful poem, besides "Fat Girl", is "The Worst Thing I Ever Taught My Girl." On this one she speaks of the mistake many parents and friends make constantly, a boy bullies her daughter, calling her names, and perhaps going so far as to do so physically, her response is "it probably means that he likes you." Society teaches us that these sort of relationships are formed out of love rather than out of a power struggle, luckily the poem's title implies she knows this, and hopes that all those other that read it, do so as well.
I am not saying she is the voice of our generation, but she is very close.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you really love a writer, fuck her on a coffee table. Find a gravestone of someone who shares her name and take her to it. When her door is plastered with an eviction notice, do not offer your home. Say I Love You, then call her the wrong name. If you really love a writer, bury her in all your awful and watch as she scrawls her way out."

[Stephanie ~~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

She spins language into silk.
This is feminist content woven into a tapestry of "I must circle back to these poems again and again and again."
Meg Falley is a writer who I will follow to the end of the earth. Who is THIS talented? Seriously? :)

[D.S. West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megan Falley's great. Describing poetry is like writing books about the economy. No one actually knows how any of it works, we just know when it does. This collection works, and I'm shutting up now.

[Samu]

1,5 stars maybe?

I love the typography Write Bloody uses. And I love the title of this collection.

Other than that... I don't know. I feel like I worked really hard to like this but just... didn't. Mostly it felt like it was filled with fairly obvious metaphors and not so clever word play and every poem left me with an anxious feeling of "...yes and? what's your point?" like the writer had very little to say. I'm willing to say I didn't get this, maybe I really just missed something important that all the five star reviewers got. Who knows. However, massive dislike factor: in a poem about a father-daughter relationship there is the following line: 'I didn't see him this Father's Day. He went to a ballgame with his non-biological granddaughter.' signifying in my mind instantly that non-biological is less than in the hierarchy of familial relationships. Perhaps just too straight and too normative for me to like.

[Conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome upon awesome. This book has it all. From explorations into the lasting affect of childhood to the bumping NYC nightlife, Megan Falley brings it all to the table. A colorful and interesting read. Great for someone dipping their feet into poetry or the seasoned veterans. Preorder on Writebloody.com!

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than once, I felt like I had been punched in the gut by some of these poems. Absolutely stunning.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A morbid yet brural honesty batch of spells from the authors past. Her words can show the love but also hang one on a fence to bleed out, metaphorically speaking.

As I continue to read Write Bloody poets this book I feel is one of those that you remember by just the title.

My overall favorites
- During the week I thought I was carrying your child

- The Honest House
- Boy Scout
- This Poem came Quick
- Bringing Over the Jell-O Mold

- Beginning in an Ice Cream truck and ending in a court room.

[Danah Slade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Falley is a most talented writer, her words are both touching and unrelenting. This book deserves to win prizes. Unbelievable for her debut full-length poetry book. Extremely mature for being just 22-years-old when it was accepted for publication.

[🌻]

def not for me

[Jenifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, poetry. I try, I really do (sort of). My daughters read this in their book club so I borrowed their copy and gave it a whirl, since they said their book club mostly liked it.

My favorite poem in this collection was;
"Upon Realizing That The "I" Section Of My iPod Is A Perfect Alphabetical Summation Of My Love Life." a found poem

[Mathilda]

It’s just not it for me… Describing a person who’s committed suicide as turning into a TIRE SWING???! and then later asking if their favorite part from whatever movie is the character DROOPING LIKE A NECKTIE?!?!? What?

And then some lines are just too contrived. For example: “When my daughter came home from school, sorrow shrill
as a recess bell”
Imagine a line like that EVERY few lines. Ugh, I don’t know, maybe it’s just not to my taste but it sounds so forced. Nothing here is subtle or nuanced.

Every poem is too preoccupied with being clever with its wordplay that it fails to be anything else—and in so being, directs so much attention to itself that it distracts the reader from the subject or the purpose of the poem. It felt like the poems were holding a mirror, engrossed with themselves.

I also think so much is told to the reader (which is a problem in its own right) out of self-indulgence.

Variance is always good, unfortunately it's not here. All the poems follow the same (storytelling, prose-like) rhythm that I hate. A few poems in and I could already see the contents of the rest of the pages like streetlights.

There is a thinness to Megan Falley's poetry. A lack of layers and depth. (And I really feel so inexplicably sad about it. All this love for poetry, and it cannot be translated. You wield language daily and still fail, continuously, to chisel the rock at the centre of it.)

Anyway, there were definitely some poems that I liked, or that were even objectively good, but overall I kind of feel like I ate too much sugar.

[Megan RFA · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection, to be sure, but could use some tweaking. There were several poems that could be tighter, or more clean, or where the language fell flat. It seemed like some of the poems were simply unfinished, like the poet hadn't let them marinate long enough before coming back to do edits. I experience this a lot myself as a writer, where I think I'm done only to come back a month later and know exactly which lines to cut, which words to switch. And then out of nowhere comes "The Irrational Anthem," and you know this is a poet to keep an eye on.

Overall a spirited poet with a clean style. I can't wait to see how her craft develops in the next collection.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

a few of the poems were both clever and moving, some were just clever, and at least two were so busy being 'clever' that they forgot to be humane; 'this poem came quick' was tasteless, and 'pendulum' was unbelievably insensitive ...hence i didn't buy / wouldn't recommend [the 2012 edition of] this book.

[Never_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really surprised me. Excellent collection of poetry and I couldn't believe this is only a debut. 'The Worst Thing I Ever Taught My Girl' will blow you away with just a few sentences. My favorites were 'This Poem Came Quick', 'Rain' and 'Fat Girl'. Megan Falley rocks.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.

[Dorcas Cherogony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. It was real, relatable and just overall beautiful. I loved every poem and found myself tabbing up almost each one. She is amazing and inspiring both in writing and on stage.

[Conner Horak-Flood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to hear the author read from this book in Denver, CO. I immediately purchased a copy and had her sign the title page where she reminded me to "stay tender." A year later I finally get around to reading the book and "tender" is the perfect word to describe it. It's a very direct examination of womanhood, sadness, and grief all through a lens that is frank and sarcastic. There's humor here that is almost conversational which makes her work compulsively readable. But don't make the mistake in thinking this book lacks a spine. It's strong as hell and unrelenting in its pursuit of... something real(?) Think Carmen Maria Machado meets Lindy West and they had a baby and this baby kept a journal of poetry. I loved immersing myself in its rough edges.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megan is one of my favorite modern poets, and I loved this book. I started this book awhile back and tried not to binge it, I instead tried to savor it little by little. Her poetry is like dessert after dinner. I intend to eat just a portion but end up gluttonously devouring the entire cake and ending up with crumbs all over my face. So so good. Read this and everything else she’s written. She’s pure gold.

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uugh. Granted, there are some good lines and images in this, but otherwise most of these poems feel trite or unsurprising or unnecessary. At their worse, they made me super uncomfortable (see first poem, "If You Really Love a Writer" which, at it's best, can only be taken for extreme dry sarcasm.) Feels more like a personal journal.

[Annika Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the poema in this book were hit or miss for me, but the majority were hits. The last 3 poems in particular were so powerful I want to sleep on them and reread in the morning. I'll definitely be picking up more of Megan's work.

[Julianne King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megan Falley is my favorite poet and has been since she performed in St. Louis and changed my life. This book is stunning, a lesson, inspiration, and heart-wrenching. Coconut Verbena will forever be my favorite.

[Rhianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I need to send a Christmas card to Megan Falley every year for the rest of my life for constructing this devastatingly beautiful collection.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars - I flew through this book. I absolutely love Megan Falley's poetry and am so excited for her forthcoming collection, so I had to go back and read some of her older work

[connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

Enjoyed some poems but it really dipped for me in the middle and only picked up with the last few

[Sarah Rearigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful read. Megan out does herself with her first published poetry collection. Hits the heart, many times.

[Molly Roach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great work by Megan Falley. After reading these poems I’m just thankful to exist in the same space that they do. Love.

[Zali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been wonderful, still wonderful

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, thank you.

[Sarra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't my cup of tea!
Some poems were good others didn't live up to the grandiose of their titles to say the least.
I tried to like it, but it's just wasn't for me.