Dead Girl Cameo: A Love Song in Poems

by M. Mick Powell

A dazzling docupoetic debut collection interweaving personal loss with the life stories of Aaliyah Haughton, Whitney Houston, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Phyllis Hyman, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, and others to explore sexuality, survival, queer mourning, and the afterlives of stardom

“Poet m. mick powell’s debut collection . . . resurrects their vivid lives and artistry to paint a more humanizing picture of their legacy.”—USA Today

A DEBUTIFUL AND NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

“I made, of my bones, an earth for turned the oceans
your favorite shade of light, that deepened, nearly bruised
dusk. Reflected in my palms, what I’ve made into water
glows amethyst”

In m. mick powell’s polyphonic, haunting debut, a chorus of voices conjures up intimate pop herstories to map how the poet’s queer Black girlhood was molded by their memory. With tender reverence, powell meditates on the deaths of her own beloveds while reflecting on the many stages of an icon’s How did these women challenge conventional representations of Black femininity and transform the musical landscape? How did they navigate abuse and alienation in the limelight? How do the mythologies that survive them establish afterlives of queer femme possibility?

Through sensual imagery, speculative verse, and splendid wordplay, Dead Girl Cameo takes us beyond the headlines, innovating a Black feminist poetic that traverses the richly textured realms of grief, girlhood, love, widowing, femme friendship, and queer fandom.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Queer, Audiobook

161 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 5, 2025

Reviews

[Mel || melodrama_musings · Rating 5 out of 5]

”why fuss over the curse of queer girls destined to obsess the dead?”

Don’t mind me, I’m just over here crying about Aaliyah at 7am on a Tuesday.

dead girl cameo is a sensuous and heart achingly beautiful tribute to fandom, interrupted girlhood, sapphic love, and the cruelty of fame. Poems that serve as a requiem for lives cut short in the most cruel and tragic of circumstances, interspersed with tributes to queer joy in teenage bedrooms, in locked hotel rooms, in memories of has been and never will be. Part diary, part eulogy and above all full of reverence and defiance, this is a haunting collection that I look forward to purchasing a copy of for my shelves upon release.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Please seek this out if you can!

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t understand most of the book, but I know enough to know that it’s good. I read it as an e-book though which made it bad 😭

The author has a really beautiful talent on her hands, and I didn’t realize she was Cabo Verdean until I finished the book, which is a funny coincidence because I was in Cabo Verde when I read this!

This was truly a love song book but just not for me.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful poetry collection dedicated to the early passing of iconic, talented women of color. Evocative and heartbreaking.

[Sacha · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

The title is giving emotional roller coaster, and this is an accurate depiction of the contents. That's a plus, in this case, because a book of poems about women lost all too soon could be a grief spiral, and while that's part of the journey, there is also a running theme of celebration and reverence threaded throughout.

I enjoyed the poems independently, especially as an incoming fan of so many of these artists. I also enjoyed getting to learn more about those who were less familiar to me. While the poems are gripping and stylized in conjunction with each subject's specs, there are also some fascinating added inclusions (news clippings, for example) that force readers out of the romanticized icon worship and back into the harsh reality of their various demises.

I always appreciate a widget but never more so than when it's for a book I love that I know I'd never have encountered without the personal invitation. This is a great example of that circumstance, so I'm extra grateful for the access to this one and look forward to recommending it to my students.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and One World for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A FORMATTING NOTE: The ebook is VERY difficult to read on an e reader in some places. There are some font choices that I'm sure print beautifully, but they are so small and faint on the e ink screen that it was almost illegible. I would recommend the print version if you are able.

Dead Girl Cameo: A Love Song in Poems is a poetry collection very different from those I've read before. It's described as "docupoetry," which is poetry that's crafted with existing material blended with the author's own words. Think found footage for poetry. The concept is familiar to me, but I hadn't heard the term before. The more you know!

Powell's collection is a love letter to black musicians* with rich legacies that have lasted far beyond their tragically short lives. Excerpts from interviews with Aaliyah, Whitney, Left Eye, Tammi Terrell, Minnie Ripperton, and others blend with lush sentiments and reflections from the author to create a textual collage of sorts. The result is clearly very personal to Powell, but it manages to feel quite personal to the reader with the shared parasocial ownership of these powerful women.

I, too, cried when Aalyiah died. I cried when Whitney died. I didn't know them, but I knew them. Maybe it just always felt like they knew me. After Dead Girl Cameo, it feels like Powell knows me too.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

*black musicians and Selena

Also! There is a very wonderful index that lists short biographies of the women mentioned in the collection along with other inspiring source material. I'm very thankful for the shared writers and publications!

[Micah Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. this is one of those books that makes you remember the magic that language can create.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

black and beloved. absolutely YES. such a beautiful and powerful collection. i got to see the author speak about this book at a festival not too long ago and the pure reverence, dedication and love spoken of on that panel resonates so hard in this book. read it!!

Favorites (and it was hard to choose): dead girls smell like cinnamon, girl:annotation, when Aaliyah met Kidada, resignation, and in that other fantasy where we live forever.

[Suzanne Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Sandra Dolores · Rating 5 out of 5]

maravilloso, espectacular, favorito instantáneo

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

M. does a beautiful job at uplifting women of color who have shaped feminism and blessed the world with their art. This poetic homage to survivors will be a trove to revisit over and over again.

[Raven Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book but the format was a bit all over the place for me even for a free verse poetry book. I honestly did like the poems themselves but wish the book was put together a bit better. Thanks NetGalley and Random House for this ARC read.
3/5

[Bridgette Hoshont'omba · Rating 5 out of 5]

⋆｡°✩ 5/5 Shooting Stars ᯓ★

If I had to describe Dead Girl Cameo in two words, I would quote M. Mick Powell quoting Merv Griffin referring to Whitney Houston: "Simply breathtaking".

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be "Star Brandy" when I grew up. Never mind that I was a little Native girl living on a reservation; not Black at all, looking nothing like Brandy. All I saw was her beauty as I watched her and Whitney Houston deliver what stands to be my favorite live fairy tale performance nearly 20 years later in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. The magic those two carried was elegant beyond words. Whitney shining like gossamer light every time she was on screen evoked an indescribable feeling of love within my little body. Dead Girl Cameo provides a similar feeling to me as an adult. There's something special about the role of iconic Black women like Houston in Powell's work.

This is another one where I must start with the cover – simple yet stunning. (I mean, have you seen the animated cover being used by the author and publisher? Decadent.) The inner pages are just as well. This is one I would recommend print over the eBook every time, just to fully immerse in the graphic component. It's dazzling. Though I don't know who coined the term "docupoetry", it's a category that Dead Girl Cameo represents perfectly from cover to cover and with every page in between. This collection blends news articles and other clippings, and references to other works, with poetry beautifully as Powell explores their grief and other subjects.

"Why revisit the event or the nonevent of a girl's death?"

-SAIDIYA HARTMAN, Venus in Two Acts

Poetry has evolved through the years and is, in my opinion, the type of writing where things are more subjective than objective. For this reason, I most typically give poetry collections 5 stars due to the subjectivity. I would've given this 5 stars either way because docupoetry holds a special place in my heart. Bias be damned, I've never not loved this style of writing and presentation. And I believe this is worth more than 5 stars, to be honest. It's no surprise that this collection, this work of art, was the winner of the 2026 Stonewall Book Awards Barbara Gittings Award for Poetry. The visceral reaction I had while reading – not tears as with others, but a deep and physical pulling in my chest – that weighs more than any of the tears I've shed for poetry.

Dead Girl Cameo is split into two parts. Act I: Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the lengthier part, and Act II: A Romance That Exceeded the Fictions of History. These acts are a haunting dedication to Kimberly "KJ" Morris, C.L. Dominique Courts, Billie Holiday, Tammi Terrell, Minnie Riperton, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, Phyllis Hyman, Aaliyah Haughton, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Whitney Houston, and Bobbi Houston Brown – all of whom are memorialized not just through words but through the addition of outside source materials. The details, oh the details. Powell delivers each new piece with a grace that pulls you into the page.

"a gospel of dead girls
is called a constellation"

We open with annotation: girl showing the raw power behind words, and that power is continued page after page. The cento [our mothers said:] reminds me of my own mother. It's a gift to enjoy a collection like this cover to cover and always feel something while you make your way through it. I am a guest here – a Native reader invited into a Black space to provide a review – and that's not lost on me as I'm left in awe page after page. I found joy in the mention of sweetgrass and gardenias and Aphrodite's sage and jasmine and canna lillies. I enjoy what I relate to, as most readers do, but I also feel a deep respect for what I cannot.

Powell's voice is commanding, but not demanding.

The words used to describe Black girls, Black women, Black people are, rightfully, critiqued. How we'll call a Black woman "queen" but not "angel", reserving that for white women. The idea that Black women aren't allowed to be soft the way white women are. Black women give a softness like no other, I'd say, and Powell shows us death through a gentle lens: soft. Death is not a topic I would associate with softness, and yet, the only descriptions that come to mind are soft. Even what's painful is captivating here.

Lovely. Graceful. Tender. Ethereal.

Powell uses alliteration, consonance, assonance, and repetition in a way that makes music within their poetry. (She also narrated the audiobook, so this may be the first time I buy all available copies of a publication.) It makes sense that the book's subtitle is "A Love Song in Poems". Themes like girlhood, assault, mourning, lovemaking, sexuality, race, and grief are handled with care. Through the document side of this collection, I learned that Phyllis Hyman is a Sagittarius Rising like me. That the public thought Aaliyah, still a girl, was a lesbian for having a close friend, like me and my childhood bestie. That Selena was an Aries – born a few days before me the year after my dad but a fact I never contemplated as an Aries/Taurus cusp before now. That grief is hard and can be messy, but also can be beautiful and that's okay.

"I'm born under the sign of Cancer, and I have a Sagittarian moon and rising, and if you know anything about the signs, that's called extreme highs and extreme lows; there's no middle for me."

Phyllis Hyman, Ebony/Jet Showcase interview, 1987

Some of my favorites include Phyllis Hyman refused to be lonely; dead girl pastoral; when Aaliyah met Kidada; "Rock the Boat" is a song about strapping, if for no other reason than; the title poem dead girl cameo, of course, from Act I and annotation: girl and girl study #3 from Act II.

Yakoke, thank you, to M. Mick Powell, Random House, One World, and NetGalley for providing an ARC to review. Also, I want to offer an apology. After a family emergency in the second half of 2025, things with my schedule quickly got out of hand and as a student my education has to be my top priority so all reviews were shelved. (No pun intended.)

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so in awe of Powell’s ability to intermingle their personal experiences with queer desire and loss with those of some of the most famous Black femme singers of the past century. It is done almost intuitively, entering the voices of these stars, their lovers, mothers, and friends.

In each voice across this collection, grief is deeply tangled in past, present, and future lust, intimacy, care and adoration.

Powell brings our communal grief of celebrities back to a personal level reminding us how singers shape girlhood and sometimes give us names for our wants and our losses.

“Billie Holiday, from the smoking room”:
“Of course, I was supposed to be other things, too:

sarsaparilla, a solo flute, fae with gossamer wings,
an orchestra of machinery, something other than some

nation's redemptive flame, a country's lost chance
at growing a Black girl loved good. Despite this,

I wore my name like a long pink mink.” (12)


Tammi Terrell, from the backlit bardo”:
“that there is no shade of red in our language

to adequately describe my mothers rage” (14-15)


“Girl study #3”
“Ven aqui, Yessika whispered, the v bent into a soft b. I came, of course, a circuitous convulsion. Little death, little death. First burst of purple, the color of Selena's pantsuit, bruised burgundy and petal-pressed to my lids.”

“self-portrait as Akasha watching her lover shave their own face”:
“that we are mortal must only mean

we know how to make, of each other, prey. I pray

some nights to be the blade; I pray some nights to be its hold—

the thing you touch or the thing that touches you;

tongue tasting razor's red drip, or the blood itself spooling

along my teeth. carnal, this queer ache,

blueing between the midnight fists of my want.” (98)

“Dominique”:
“Together we learned how to scarce our desire; how to skin a once-living thing and preserve its shape.” (99)

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely luscious imagery. so many moments where the words felt so delicious to hold in my mouth, you know? a delight in the language. was thinking a lot about fandom/rpf/celebrity gossip and the sort of ~acceptable subjects outside of the fandom space for discussion in that realm (like the rumored sexualities of girls and women discussed in this book) though the reality is thinking about whitney houston's queerness may not be so acceptable to many & i am just someone who is very entrenched in these sort of spaces, but was really enchanted/delighted at the type of poetry mick spins from those trenches. when we get to the "aaliyah's monologue from my fanfiction where aaliyah and selena fall in love" i was like ooo ok we are cut from the same cloth. which i love! i love when art comes from that obsessive thrust and impulse and shaping of the self through the company it fosters. that poem was also just so achingly gorgeous ("there is nothing else to do but cater to desire as one would cater // to any other small and starving animal" YEEESHHHHH). mick writes eroticism-desire sooooo well, in a way that is energizing to my own prudish desire-filled poetics. really looking forward to returning to the akasha poems after i finish tvl(and eventually read/watch qotd) which i just so happen to be reading at the same time as this lol. book i will return to over and over again!

[Rachel.T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top 5 Reasons to Read "Dead Girl Cameo"

If you like mystery, drama, and stories that keep you guessing, this book is definitely worth checking out. It mixes suspense with emotional moments in a way that makes it hard to put down.

1. Suspenseful Plot: The story keeps you on edge with unexpected twists, so you’re always wondering what’s going to happen next.

2. Relatable Characters: Even though some situations are intense, the characters feel real and have emotions and struggles you can understand.

3. Dark but Interesting Theme: It explores serious topics, but in a way that makes you think instead of feeling overwhelmed.

4. Fast-Paced Storytelling: The chapters move quickly, which makes it an easy and exciting read, especially if you don’t like slow books.

5. Memorizing Ending: The ending sticks with you and makes you think about the story even after you finish it.

Overall, "Dead Girl Cameo" is a great choice if you want a book that’s both entertaining and meaningful. It’s the kind of story that keeps your attention and leaves an impression.Dead Girl Cameo: A Love Song in Poems

[Danna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Girl Cameo was a unique, little book of poems that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm not much of a poetry reader, but the topic called to me when I saw some of my favorite female, Black vocal artists were featured. It's short, not always easy to follow, but if you're into the subject matter, I think it will resonate. If you're not, this is not the book for you.

Dead Girl Cameo uses clippings from the headlines about the famous womens' deaths, interviews, and m. mick powell's own prose to tell the 'dead girl's' perspective. I found it interesting and fun, and totally sad. All of these women died young, in a blaze of glory and notoriety, and were victims of a world that gobbled them up.

If you are into the best of Black women in R&B, Whitney Houston, Billie Holiday, Aaliyah, and more, pick up this book. It will only take you an hour or so to read and it will definitely give some food for thought.

Recommended. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Alicia (PrettyBrownEyeReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I would be able to breeze through this poetry collection. I could not. I was filled with so many emotions that I wasn’t anticipating.

The collection is in “loving and everlasting memory” of women who died at a very young age. Many of the deaths impacted me as I matured into womanhood i.e. Selena Quintanilla-Perez, Aaliyah Houghton, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Whitney Elizabeth Houston and Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown. Reading poems about these women felt like reliving the news and sadness of their deaths all over again. That is the power of this power collection, it unlocks emotions especially grief.

The poems are in many creative formats. I read the collection on an e-reader. Some of the poem formats did not work well with using an electronic device. It may be better to read the collection in a print copy.

I was sent an electronic advanced readers copy by the publisher, One World via Netgalley.

[Jax · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this poetry collection, Powell revisits her own past and the lives of black female music icons who tragically died young. She includes a mix of media clips that announce the artist’s death followed by poetry that touches on the artist’s talent and challenges she faced. Powell’s poetic style is impactful and moving. To echo other reviewers, however, formatting choices made for a challenging read. Fonts and layout changed so regularly it lent a choppy feel to the read that otherwise has a nice flow.

Thank you to Random House | One World and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
#DeadGirlCameo #NetGalley

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book after reading the various reviews and comments found on Good Reads about the book. I became somewhat dismayed and moderately disappointed by what i gathered ti be a their lack of developmental mature insights that were pervasive in the authors True assessments of the full encompassing reason for their answers and acceptance for the answers without the perfunctory follow up inquiries necessary to cement their definitive answers for analysis
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[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an emotional read for me. The poetry is beautiful. The topics can be triggering for some people but the concept of this work is fantastic.
I experienced many moments of nostalgia remembering these beauties. It made me take a moment and play a song from one and then I would get lost in time playing DJ. The tragedy is what made it a challenge for me simply because of my nature.
I would definitely read this again and take it slow. These women deserve to be reverently explored. A classic by m. mick powell.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t put down Dead Girl Cameo A Love Song in Poems , written by M. Mick Powell. This collection of poetry brought me to tears more than once. The collection’s focus is on the loss of some very talented women from pop culture. Some of these women include: Aaliyah Haughton, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Selena, and Whitney Houston to name a few. All of these women were taken too young and truly left a mark on the memory of not only pop culture, but of their fans. I would highly recommend this collection of poems.


A huge thank you to NetGalley, Random House and One World for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Susie Dumond · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inventive, poignant, moving poetry collection about beloved Black women we lost too soon, from Minnie Riperton to Whitney Houston to Aaliyah. Weaving in headlines, lyrics, and interview quotes, m. mick powell explores love, loss, grief, queerness, and possibility in a way you'll never forget.

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool concept. I want to love poetry but I really just don't know that I'm cool enough for poetry. Is that the point? Idk. Introduced me to some badass ladies I'd never heard of. So that's cool.

[Jae Nichelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book of poems released this year by far

[Theresa Udell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning piece of work.

[Rachel Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, just not my thing

[sunny]

i can’t remember the last time a book pulled at my heart the way this did. i can still feel some of the poems gnawing at me.

[Rae Quigley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautiful and haunting.

[angelika jazmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ugh how love poetry. especially about girls and love and artists.

[Kaity K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! A powerful insight of queer Black girlhood and the connections to celebrities were brilliant. Poetry fans i definitely recommend this one!