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Spindrift
Launched into the underworld realms of sunken ships, myths, and mercurial pop cultural representations, Spindrift dives into waters where who we thought mermaids were wavers with possibilities, dangers, and hopes.
Adrienne Rich once said that “until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.” In her latest collection of prose poems, Laura Madeline Wiseman reminds us that self and fable are intimate nemeses. In these poems, the mermaid becomes a stunning trope for discovery and relentless subversion, and through the collection, we are lured through a seductively dangerous and transitive ecology—bottles of pop float in a listless ocean, sea shanties are whispered from the water, and popular myth and paradox elide. Wiseman leads us into a sumptuous terrain where we must confront legends and wrench from them a truth that will change us.
~ Sara Henning
Existing beyond the boundaries of historical renderings and “Waterhouse reproductions,” Wiseman’s mermaids are intelligent, passionate, dangerous, and endangered. Wiseman brings them to life (and death) in exquisitely crafted narratives that play on the edges of dreams and plunge into the deepest human fears. In her hands ocean becomes mirror and the tale/tail of the mermaid becomes very much our own.
~ Jenn Monroe
The poems in Spindrift blur the already fragmented lines of gender, offering us mermaids with beards, hairy nipples, and a thirst for damaged remains. Through Wiseman’s formal restraint and inventive definitions, we are invited into the deep sea of the unknown, and we find out the unknown knows us—knows our wars, our corporations, the crumbling frame of our environment, the very bodies we imagine ourselves to be. We learn, in Wiseman’s fantastical and deeply political collection, that the mermaids are watching us, and they worry about the state of our terrible, beautiful world. In reading this stunning chapbook, we get the sense the mermaids are themselves poets, and Wiseman is their trustworthy, imaginative, and attentive scribe.
~ Stacey Waite
Adrienne Rich once said that “until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.” In her latest collection of prose poems, Laura Madeline Wiseman reminds us that self and fable are intimate nemeses. In these poems, the mermaid becomes a stunning trope for discovery and relentless subversion, and through the collection, we are lured through a seductively dangerous and transitive ecology—bottles of pop float in a listless ocean, sea shanties are whispered from the water, and popular myth and paradox elide. Wiseman leads us into a sumptuous terrain where we must confront legends and wrench from them a truth that will change us.
~ Sara Henning
Existing beyond the boundaries of historical renderings and “Waterhouse reproductions,” Wiseman’s mermaids are intelligent, passionate, dangerous, and endangered. Wiseman brings them to life (and death) in exquisitely crafted narratives that play on the edges of dreams and plunge into the deepest human fears. In her hands ocean becomes mirror and the tale/tail of the mermaid becomes very much our own.
~ Jenn Monroe
The poems in Spindrift blur the already fragmented lines of gender, offering us mermaids with beards, hairy nipples, and a thirst for damaged remains. Through Wiseman’s formal restraint and inventive definitions, we are invited into the deep sea of the unknown, and we find out the unknown knows us—knows our wars, our corporations, the crumbling frame of our environment, the very bodies we imagine ourselves to be. We learn, in Wiseman’s fantastical and deeply political collection, that the mermaids are watching us, and they worry about the state of our terrible, beautiful world. In reading this stunning chapbook, we get the sense the mermaids are themselves poets, and Wiseman is their trustworthy, imaginative, and attentive scribe.
~ Stacey Waite
Paperback
First published February 7, 2014
202 people want to read
About the author
Laura Madeline Wiseman
52 books152 followersLaura Madeline Wiseman's latest books are Velocipede, published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press and Through A Certain Forest published by BlazeVOX [books]. Her collaboratively written chapbook with Andrea Blythe, Every Girl Becomes the Wolf is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.
She is also the author of the full length collections of poetry An Apparently Impossible Adventure (BlazeVOX [books], 2016), Drink (BlazeVOX [books], 2015), Wake (Aldrich Press, 2015), Some Fatal Effects of Curiosity and Disobedience (Lavender Ink, 2014), American Galactic (Martian Lit, 2014), Queen of the Platform (Anaphora Literary Press, 2013) and Sprung (San Francisco Bay Press, 2012).
Her collaborative books are People Like Cats with Chuka Susan Chesney, (Red Dashboard, LCC in 2016), Leaves of Absence with artist Sally Deskins (Red Dashboard, LCC, 2016), The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters with artist Lauren Rinaldi (Les Femmes Folles, 2015, and Intimates and Fools (Les Femmes Folles, 2014) with artist Sally Deskins.
Her flash novel is The Bottle Opener (Red Dashboard, LCC 2014).
Her letterpress books are Unclose The Door (Gold Quoin Press, 2012) and Farm Hands (Gold Quoin Press, 2012).
Her chapbooks are Threnody (Porkbelly Press, 2014), Spindrift (Dancing Girl Press, 2014), Stranger Still (Finishing Line Press, 2013, First Wife (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013), Men and Their Whims (Writing Knights Press, 2013), She Who Loves Her Father (Dancing Girl Press, 2012), Branding Girls (Finishing Line Press, 2011), Ghost Girl (Pudding House, 2010), and My Imaginary (Dancing Girl Press, 2010). Her early DIY chapbooks include Plastic Matches (2002).
She is also the editor of Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts (Les Femmes Folles Books, 2017) and Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013).
Her work has appeared in Margie, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, Feminist Studies, Mid-American Review, Blackbird, 13th Moon, Cream City Review, Poet Lore and elsewhere. Awards and grants include the Academy of American Poets Award and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation grant. Currently, she teaches writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
She is also the author of the full length collections of poetry An Apparently Impossible Adventure (BlazeVOX [books], 2016), Drink (BlazeVOX [books], 2015), Wake (Aldrich Press, 2015), Some Fatal Effects of Curiosity and Disobedience (Lavender Ink, 2014), American Galactic (Martian Lit, 2014), Queen of the Platform (Anaphora Literary Press, 2013) and Sprung (San Francisco Bay Press, 2012).
Her collaborative books are People Like Cats with Chuka Susan Chesney, (Red Dashboard, LCC in 2016), Leaves of Absence with artist Sally Deskins (Red Dashboard, LCC, 2016), The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters with artist Lauren Rinaldi (Les Femmes Folles, 2015, and Intimates and Fools (Les Femmes Folles, 2014) with artist Sally Deskins.
Her flash novel is The Bottle Opener (Red Dashboard, LCC 2014).
Her letterpress books are Unclose The Door (Gold Quoin Press, 2012) and Farm Hands (Gold Quoin Press, 2012).
Her chapbooks are Threnody (Porkbelly Press, 2014), Spindrift (Dancing Girl Press, 2014), Stranger Still (Finishing Line Press, 2013, First Wife (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013), Men and Their Whims (Writing Knights Press, 2013), She Who Loves Her Father (Dancing Girl Press, 2012), Branding Girls (Finishing Line Press, 2011), Ghost Girl (Pudding House, 2010), and My Imaginary (Dancing Girl Press, 2010). Her early DIY chapbooks include Plastic Matches (2002).
She is also the editor of Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts (Les Femmes Folles Books, 2017) and Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013).
Her work has appeared in Margie, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, Feminist Studies, Mid-American Review, Blackbird, 13th Moon, Cream City Review, Poet Lore and elsewhere. Awards and grants include the Academy of American Poets Award and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation grant. Currently, she teaches writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 14, 2015
This flash fiction piece of work may appear small, but it is indeed mighty. Part journal format, part poetry, but all fiercely female, Spindrift deconstructs feminine ideals through modern perceptions of mermaid myths. While a few statements in this work contain flashes of thought toward the idealized concept mermaid's represent ("paint their lips with crushed anemones,") Wiseman provides a feminist interpretation of the fantasy. In Against Myth the mermaid is not long flowing hair and seashell pasties, she exists regardless of belief and outside of scientific explanation (no exoskeletons or horns) and gender norms (hairy armpits and unibrows.) In Whoppers, Wiseman references Peter Pan's mermaids and gives a chillingly realistic interpretation of Melville's Moby Dick and Disney's The Little Mermaid:
Ahab lied. There was no whaler, no dick of Moby. Ahab was simpy a dick. The old man in the sea, he lied. Not a marlin. Ariel lied. She wasn't mermaid or fish, just another voiceless woman with amnesia. Anyone would forget an event that turned every step into a feeling of knives.
Wiseman walks a fine line between providing us with another, more feminist, mermaid narrative and pointing out inconsistencies in yet another perpetuated myth personifying feminine concepts. The effect is a dreamy swirl of bedtime story and call to action. Again, I am beyond impressed with Wiseman's work and strongly recommend it to anyone, but especially those interested in gender theory.
Read my full review here: http://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2...
Ahab lied. There was no whaler, no dick of Moby. Ahab was simpy a dick. The old man in the sea, he lied. Not a marlin. Ariel lied. She wasn't mermaid or fish, just another voiceless woman with amnesia. Anyone would forget an event that turned every step into a feeling of knives.
Wiseman walks a fine line between providing us with another, more feminist, mermaid narrative and pointing out inconsistencies in yet another perpetuated myth personifying feminine concepts. The effect is a dreamy swirl of bedtime story and call to action. Again, I am beyond impressed with Wiseman's work and strongly recommend it to anyone, but especially those interested in gender theory.
Read my full review here: http://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2...
May 3, 2019
Excellent book!!!
February 10, 2014
Launched into the underworld realms of sunken ships, myths, and mercurial pop cultural representations, Spindrift dives into waters where who we thought mermaids were wavers with possibilities, dangers, and hopes.
Adrienne Rich once said that “until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.” In her latest collection of prose poems, Laura Madeline Wiseman reminds us that self and fable are intimate nemeses. In these poems, the mermaid becomes a stunning trope for discovery and relentless subversion, and through the collection, we are lured through a seductively dangerous and transitive ecology—bottles of pop float in a listless ocean, sea shanties are whispered from the water, and popular myth and paradox elide. Wiseman leads us into a sumptuous terrain where we must confront legends and wrench from them a truth that will change us.
~ Sara Henning
Existing beyond the boundaries of historical renderings and “Waterhouse reproductions,” Wiseman’s mermaids are intelligent, passionate, dangerous, and endangered. Wiseman brings them to life (and death) in exquisitely crafted narratives that play on the edges of dreams and plunge into the deepest human fears. In her hands ocean becomes mirror and the tale/tail of the mermaid becomes very much our own.
~ Jenn Monroe
The poems in Spindrift blur the already fragmented lines of gender, offering us mermaids with beards, hairy nipples, and a thirst for damaged remains. Through Wiseman’s formal restraint and inventive definitions, we are invited into the deep sea of the unknown, and we find out the unknown knows us—knows our wars, our corporations, the crumbling frame of our environment, the very bodies we imagine ourselves to be. We learn, in Wiseman’s fantastical and deeply political collection, that the mermaids are watching us, and they worry about the state of our terrible, beautiful world. In reading this stunning chapbook, we get the sense the mermaids are themselves poets, and Wiseman is their trustworthy, imaginative, and attentive scribe.
~ Stacey Waite
Adrienne Rich once said that “until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.” In her latest collection of prose poems, Laura Madeline Wiseman reminds us that self and fable are intimate nemeses. In these poems, the mermaid becomes a stunning trope for discovery and relentless subversion, and through the collection, we are lured through a seductively dangerous and transitive ecology—bottles of pop float in a listless ocean, sea shanties are whispered from the water, and popular myth and paradox elide. Wiseman leads us into a sumptuous terrain where we must confront legends and wrench from them a truth that will change us.
~ Sara Henning
Existing beyond the boundaries of historical renderings and “Waterhouse reproductions,” Wiseman’s mermaids are intelligent, passionate, dangerous, and endangered. Wiseman brings them to life (and death) in exquisitely crafted narratives that play on the edges of dreams and plunge into the deepest human fears. In her hands ocean becomes mirror and the tale/tail of the mermaid becomes very much our own.
~ Jenn Monroe
The poems in Spindrift blur the already fragmented lines of gender, offering us mermaids with beards, hairy nipples, and a thirst for damaged remains. Through Wiseman’s formal restraint and inventive definitions, we are invited into the deep sea of the unknown, and we find out the unknown knows us—knows our wars, our corporations, the crumbling frame of our environment, the very bodies we imagine ourselves to be. We learn, in Wiseman’s fantastical and deeply political collection, that the mermaids are watching us, and they worry about the state of our terrible, beautiful world. In reading this stunning chapbook, we get the sense the mermaids are themselves poets, and Wiseman is their trustworthy, imaginative, and attentive scribe.
~ Stacey Waite
November 7, 2017
I'm one of the lucky winners of this specific Goodreads Giveaway!
(I wanted to add that the packaging in which this undersea gem came to me was quite adorably adorned in seascape stickers. It was quite cute to find tiny mermaid floating on the corner or the title page! I love the humanity the packaging itself shows, a good relief from the others I've received. Thanks Laura!)
If Ariel were one of Wiseman's mermaids, she'd be the epitome of ocean anarchy: a hate for Disney, kin to trilobite, and (if she lived in the arctic) hair practically everywhere! In fact, Ariel wouldn't be a mermaid at all. She's actually a lie conducted by some mute, amnesic woman. The mermaids want to set things straight, and stop letting the red haired forking lunatic making them look ridiculous.
They struggle to understand, or break, gender roles, study the roads which always lead back to water, crave and desire the most imperfect destroyed human remnants. The mermaids fear nothing, and dance in darkness of nature. Mermaids are pyromaniacs: seductively luring out visitors to destroy their passage back home. We ingest them on dollar menus, and lull their bored bodes to sextacy. We breathe in their salty perfumes and peel the locks, or is it rocks?, from their hair before they leave in the morning.
We are the mermaids, until we stop singing. We stop swimming, we read Shakespeare and drive convertibles. We descale ourselves until we are no longer mermaids. We are extinct.
Hard to decipher, but a beautiful poetic read, Spindrift reminds us just how much we really miss the sea, and our tales of tails.
(I wanted to add that the packaging in which this undersea gem came to me was quite adorably adorned in seascape stickers. It was quite cute to find tiny mermaid floating on the corner or the title page! I love the humanity the packaging itself shows, a good relief from the others I've received. Thanks Laura!)
If Ariel were one of Wiseman's mermaids, she'd be the epitome of ocean anarchy: a hate for Disney, kin to trilobite, and (if she lived in the arctic) hair practically everywhere! In fact, Ariel wouldn't be a mermaid at all. She's actually a lie conducted by some mute, amnesic woman. The mermaids want to set things straight, and stop letting the red haired forking lunatic making them look ridiculous.
They struggle to understand, or break, gender roles, study the roads which always lead back to water, crave and desire the most imperfect destroyed human remnants. The mermaids fear nothing, and dance in darkness of nature. Mermaids are pyromaniacs: seductively luring out visitors to destroy their passage back home. We ingest them on dollar menus, and lull their bored bodes to sextacy. We breathe in their salty perfumes and peel the locks, or is it rocks?, from their hair before they leave in the morning.
We are the mermaids, until we stop singing. We stop swimming, we read Shakespeare and drive convertibles. We descale ourselves until we are no longer mermaids. We are extinct.
Hard to decipher, but a beautiful poetic read, Spindrift reminds us just how much we really miss the sea, and our tales of tails.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews