Merry Hell

by Sara Larsen

Poetry. In MERRY HELL, Helen of Troy exposes the "misogynist spell" of the traditional (patriarchal) narrative that condemns her for the horrors of the Trojan War and insists "LET ME TELL YOU ALL THE TRUTH OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME". As it happened, Helen is neither abducted by nor runs off in love with Paris, but rejects Empire and leaves Sparta of her own volition. Helen's story, a heroine's journey, is interwoven with circumstances surrounding the Pétroleuse, or women incendiaries, of the 1871 Paris Commune as well as those of Occupy Oakland. As Ezra Pound states, "All eras are contemporaneous in the mind."

112 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2016

About the author

Sara Larsen is the author of Detonated Mirror (The Elephants), The Riot Grrrl Thing (Roof Books), Merry Hell (Atelos Press), and All Revolutions Will Be Fabulous (Printing Press) as well as several chapbooks. Larsen was a recipient of a 2021 research grant for non-German literature from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe. Readings, performances, and publications can be found at www.saralarsenpoet.com

Reviews

[Carrie]

If H.D. came back as a political activist in Oakland, and also was even sexier.

[Cassandra Troyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOT DAMN! Like Erin Belieu meets Ariana Reines and Jackqueline Frost. Such a rare find.