major characters in minor films

by Kristy Bowen

Genres: Poetry

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

A writer and book artist working in both text and image, Kristy Bowen is the author of a number of chapbook, zine, and artists book projects, as well as six full-length collections of poetry/prose/hybrid work, including the recent SALVAGE (Black Lawrence Press, 2016) and MAJOR CHARACTERS IN MINOR FILMS (Sundress Publications, 2015). Bowen holds an MFA in Poetry from Columbia College and an MA in Literature from DePaul University. She lives in Chicago, where she runs dancing girl press & studio and spends much of her time writing, making papery things, and editing a chapbook series devoted to women authors. Her seventh book of poems, LITTLE APOCALYPSE, is due out from Noctuary Press in 2018. Another collection, SEX & VIOLENCE will be published in Spring 2020 by Black Lawrence.

Reviews

[Christina M Rau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with contemporary poetry again and again with every poem in this collection. Quirky, intimate, imagistic, rhythmic, and bold, from pop culture to soul-crushing confessions, Kristy Bowen's Major Characters In Minor Films is everything I want to write and read over and again.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Major Characters in Minor Films

It is rare that I find a book so completely relatable that the author could be writing about my own life. But here it is – the violence of growing up hidden within lines like, “no girls were harmed in the making of this poem” – and you know they were; you know there were girls who were split right in two.

I’m one of them.

And it is easy to fall deeply in love with this book, one line at a time. "My mouth was a valve I could close and open at will." "They are something like a poem, something like a house fire." "But I play this part so sweetly you practically forget my teeth"

I’m everywhere in Kristy Bowen’s pages. I’m like a girl in love with fire. This is beautiful trauma.

[Alina Stefanescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last section, "celluloid moon", is prose poetry at its absolute best. Words that drag you along through images, breath snagged, things we'd rather not feel, things we can't avoid given the momentum of Kristy's language.

I'm keeping this book by my bedside right now and admiring it from various angles. I love it.

[Amie Whittemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Bowen has a knack for the unexpected image, for a clipped pace that doesn't feel rushed or forced; there's a tender urgency in this book, a wry humor, a heartache, a prairie, and a fever. I ate it all right up.