Featherbone

by Erica Mena

Poetry. FEATHERBONE draws on cyborg feminism, ornithology, anatomy, and Greek mythology to imagine what might have become of a female Icarus. The action of the book attempts to slow time down, to explore in detail the bodily capacity to transform, the process of becoming singular, mythic, and other. The driving force of the language is in compound neologisms, none of which are repeated (excepting "featherbone"), but which are rhythmically and tonally resonant throughout. Other language is appropriated from a wide range of sources including Grey's Anatomy , The Peregrine by J.A. Baker, and The Oxford English Dictionary. Interfacing and fusing poetic, technical, scientific, and mythic language, the FEATHERBONE becomes animal, machine, human.

Genres: Poetry

50 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

E. Rowan Mena is a Puerto Rican poet, translator, and book artist. They hold an MFA in poetry from Brown University, an MFA in literary translation from the University of Iowa, and an M.Phil in Criticism and Culture from the University of Cambridge. Their book Featherbone (Ricochet Editions, 2015) won a 2016 Hoffer First Horizons Award. Their translation of the Argentine graphic novel The Eternaut by H.G. Oesterheld and F. Solano Lopez (Fantagraphics, 2015) won a 2016 Eisner Award. Their artist books are held in collections widely, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art. They have taught Book Arts, Translation, and Poetry at Brown University, Mills College, Harvard University, and elsewhere. They currently live in Fiskars, Finland. Find and follow Rowan (for free) on Patreon (patreon.com/acyborgkitty) or Instagram (instagram.com/acyborgkitty).

Reviews

[Stephen Lindow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luscious

[is there blood? · Rating 3 out of 5]

could be more blood