Electric Dress

by Joanne Diaz

Electric Dress provides a broad range of explorations of personal, political and cultural materials. The poems cross a number of landscapes—taking the reader from Hong Kong to Spain to the Philippines to Central Illinois. They insist on the ways in which we are tied to history and to our landscapes, often drawing upon archival materials and visual art objects in order to provide meditations on what we inherit and what we wish to disavow. If instructors are looking to adopt a collection of poems for their beginning or advanced poetry workshops, I hope that they will consider Electric Dress for its variety and complexity.

100 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2026

Reviews

[Evan]

A terrific teacher and a wonderful poet. I look forward to talking with her about “Electric Dress” later this week on The Poetic Turn (www.thepoeticturn.com). My favorites from this were “Nickerson Beach,” “Shotgun, Rabies,” and “The Ovid Room.”

[Richard Evely]

"It was born into seclusion, and as a result, it welcomes every object into its world without judgement" - Every Planet Is a Greeting. With verses like this, I felt a connection to Ms. Diaz, my own introvert-ism and to a world that hides from our culture of mass hysteria. Ms. Diaz wit and scientific bent is a pleasant surprise, for example: "Hydra's blood, unstoppable, became hot gas;" - Equator Sky, Manila Bay.

[Abram Van Engen]

Truly excellent poetry. Go read it.