Rain Scald: Poems

by Tacey M. Atsitty

In this innovative debut collection, Tacey M. Atsitty employs traditional, lyric, and experimental verse to create an intricate landscape she invites readers to explore. Presented in three sections, Tséyi’, Gorge Dweller, and Tóhee’, the poems negotiate between belief and doubt, self and family, and interior and exterior landscapes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tacey M. Atsitty is the author of the chapbook Amenorrhea. Her poetry has been widely published in journals and anthologies. Atsitty is Diné of the Sleep Rock People, born for the Tangle People.

Genres: Poetry

83 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 18, 2018

About the author

Tacey M. Atsitty, Diné, is Tsénahabiłnii (Sleep Rock People) and born for Ta’neeszahnii (Tangle People) from Cove, AZ.

She is a recipient of the Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship, the Corson-Browning Poetry Prize, Morning Star Creative Writing Award, and the Philip Freund Prize. She holds bachelor’s degrees from Brigham Young University and the Institute of American Indian Arts, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Cornell University. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in POETRY Magazine, Kenyon Review Online, Prairie Schooner, Crazyhorse, Literary Hub, New Poets of Native Nations, and other publications. Her first book is Rain Scald (University of New Mexico Press, 2018).

She lives in Utah.

Reviews

[C. Varn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Atsitty use of both traditionally formal and experimental verse as well as narrative and lyric modes serves to move the reader into Dine (Navajo) culture and the American West. Atsitty often moves between the elegiac and the hymnic, but she keeps all the poetry rooted in the natural landscapes and the often direct language. Atsitty is a poet I will be watching.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best books of poetry I've read this year. formal, structured and masterful in craft but also: intuitive, genuine, surprising, deeply moving. Checked this out from the library and almost cried when I had to return it, so you know i had to buy it.

[Jessica]

“Out of / the word-water a letter drops from his name : E / leaves Reuben windburned. . . At his side, a child / etches an E into the gorge floor.” —From poem “Recurrent”

[Karen K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Debut collection from one of Native America's young, contemporary poets. Adventurous in form and theme, highly recommended. Full review to come.

[Felicia Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these poems in Rain Scald> by Tacey M. Atsitty. Reading them, sometimes it is as if I am seeing something out of the corner of my mind's eye. This is because although the poems can include narrative elements, and elements of incantation, the way the words work on the page draws us deeper into the poet's insights. For those of us less familiar with the Navajo culture out of which she writes (with Atsitty "Diné of the Sleep Rock People, "born for the Tangle People"), there is also the advantage of entering not just a new mind-space but also a new landscape where, for example (so many others), rain is much more than what it might have been to us before. Although context clues help while reading, the Notes section at the end elaborates on the Diné words interwove within the English words that stretch, through Atsitty's syntax, their boundaries and become newer.

[Jocelyn Schartiger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I could not connect with these poems. I wasn't able to enjoy the writing, as I couldn't understand most of it and I found the actual verse to be cumbersome and too clunky for my liking.

I really appreciated the notes at the end which provided some context and history regarding Indigenous practices, words, and beliefs. I would love to read more of this type of content and will seek that out in the future.

I have a lot of respect for people who are willing to share such personal and vulnerable feelings with the world so I do recommend reading these! It is brave and I find it imperative to hear from those different than us.

[Traci Halesvass · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful poetry

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Jacqueline Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much to add here except that these poems are so, so masterful. Atsitty has a knack for gritty and all-consuming imagery.