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Into the Into of Earth Itself
Winner of the 2024 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry
Selected by judge Diana Khoi Nguyen, Into the Into of Earth Itself is the debut collection by Amanda Hodes. The poems investigate the dual histories of two Pennsylvania Palmerton and the nearby ghost town of Centralia, which was condemned due to an underground mine fire that will burn for centuries.
Through text mining, these poems excavate legislation, archival material, web comments, and even the Silent Hill screenplay, revealing the inextricable nature of environmental toxicity and toxic masculinity, the violation of the environment and violations of women. Human pollution is a “bug” in the code, prompting forms of material glitch―earthquakes, sinkholes, illness, and shame. Couched in code-like syntax, the collection cycles through an ecology of voices, from bacteria to pigeons to weeds, all the while exploring sexual assault and chronic illness, questioning what it truly means to be “natural” or “clean.”
Selected by judge Diana Khoi Nguyen, Into the Into of Earth Itself is the debut collection by Amanda Hodes. The poems investigate the dual histories of two Pennsylvania Palmerton and the nearby ghost town of Centralia, which was condemned due to an underground mine fire that will burn for centuries.
Through text mining, these poems excavate legislation, archival material, web comments, and even the Silent Hill screenplay, revealing the inextricable nature of environmental toxicity and toxic masculinity, the violation of the environment and violations of women. Human pollution is a “bug” in the code, prompting forms of material glitch―earthquakes, sinkholes, illness, and shame. Couched in code-like syntax, the collection cycles through an ecology of voices, from bacteria to pigeons to weeds, all the while exploring sexual assault and chronic illness, questioning what it truly means to be “natural” or “clean.”
96 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
in this book, the atmosphere of an abandoned mine town is elaborated through sensory and rusty locational details. it is then enriched with sporatically spaced in chipped and fragmaneted poetry forms.
connecting the natural with man-made is an initial thematic pull into the narrative where we are forced to recognize the consequences of mining and pulling natural resources (physical, social, and legal). dark tourism and liminal spaces have always been an interest to me, so I really enjoy the subject matter and the way that everything is intertwined. I think that the fragmented and cyber-forward writing took me out of the reality of abandoned-industrial towns completely. extracted, sucked dry, overexploited, such themes are very well put but there's some visuals that felt more distracting despite making a point. and upon finishing the book, it instead, left me in a science-fictional experience. I don't mind the experimental forms, but I had trouble keeping hold of the core themes as I kept reading along.
I think the start was strong and the concepts were compelling, but the last half was much less satisfying.
that being said, it was a very informative and interesting read with really compelling ways of testing form and shape of poetry.
connecting the natural with man-made is an initial thematic pull into the narrative where we are forced to recognize the consequences of mining and pulling natural resources (physical, social, and legal). dark tourism and liminal spaces have always been an interest to me, so I really enjoy the subject matter and the way that everything is intertwined. I think that the fragmented and cyber-forward writing took me out of the reality of abandoned-industrial towns completely. extracted, sucked dry, overexploited, such themes are very well put but there's some visuals that felt more distracting despite making a point. and upon finishing the book, it instead, left me in a science-fictional experience. I don't mind the experimental forms, but I had trouble keeping hold of the core themes as I kept reading along.
I think the start was strong and the concepts were compelling, but the last half was much less satisfying.
that being said, it was a very informative and interesting read with really compelling ways of testing form and shape of poetry.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review