Trace

by Melanie Figg

Poetry. Women's Studies. Figg's is a collection that embraces and experiments with the multiple meanings of the without a trace, tracing, trace elements, etc., and with multiple female mother, sister, girl, woman in an insane asylum, and so on. There is a ghostliness here embodied in the poems' palimpsestic layers of feminist meaning and in the variety of interpretation inherent in its verse.

"In language so lovely, rich, and full of voices that seem out of another world, this book of departures also opens many doors. Each door lets in a wild wind of longing, loss, gods, myths, war, and ragged humanity. We find ourselves in a museum maze with one entrance and one exit but that final exit, we do not want to take. It is art that speaks us through, speaks witness, speaks desire, tells us there are other worlds in an ending world. We can move beyond if we are only brave enough to endure the moment of departure."--Heid E. Erdrich

"The stunning poems in Melanie Figg's debut full-length collection, TRACE, exist in a sublime and terrifying world filled with visual art, human atrocity, and a complex family history, including a sister that serves as a mirror and window into the forces that formed them both. These poems are breathtaking in their braided complexity, unwillingness to settle for two-dimensional revelation, and ability to face the abyss and sing, symphonically, into it. The two long, sectioned poems, 'Untitled' and 'Leaving a Trace,' are the crowning jewels of this book and illuminate Figg's tremendous gift on the page, 'forming perfect sentences / of evidence and sorrow.'"--Allison Benis White

"'You can pray if you want to,' says Melanie Figg in her ravishing debut collection TRACE, 'but the wind / makes its own halting pleas.' TRACE is a collection of metamorphosis, of things becoming more than they are and the liminal spaces between transitions. Figg explores the stains of history both global and personal as well as the mythos of love to reveal the vestiges of light inherent in all. 'Better to unmuscle and move through / a field of wildflowers you cannot name,' she concludes. TRACE is a revelation."--Quan Barry

Genres: Poetry

104 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

Melanie Figg is the author of the award-winning debut poetry collection, Trace, as well as the sold-out chapbook, Hurry, Love. She has won grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The McKnight and Jerome Foundations, the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and others. Her poems, personal essays, and book reviews have been published in dozens of literary journals, including The Iowa Review, Nimrod, and Iron Horse Literary Review.

With over 25 years of teaching experience, Melanie teaches at the Writer’s Center and privately in the DC area, and also critiques prose manuscripts—offering specific and helpful feedback for improvement. As a certified professional coach, she works with all kinds of writers and people looking to add more creative practices to their lives, finish creative projects (by tackling procrastination, the Inner Critic, poor time management, etc.), write a new chapter after retirement, or achieve other results in their creative or personal lives. She also leads annual Women's Writing Retreats within 60 miles of DC.

Reviews

[Madison Rechtzigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

TRACE by Melanie Figg is a poetry collection debut that was published in October of 2019. In this anthology of poems, Melanie Figg draws the readers’ attention to topics such as loss, loneliness, rejection, death, mental health issues, religion, and many more. With TRACE, Melanie Figg became a recipient of the Many Voices Project Award before the book was officially published. In one of her poems, titled “Preparing the Sacraments,” Figg demonstrates her lyrical and poetic abilities, and how she uses them to portray certain topics. Melanie Figg writes, “My own young faith / Not in the man with the lamb / Not in the God who watched me undress / Not even in the familiar flowers made holy by the cross between them / But in my mother, ironing in the sacristy singing.” The themes of family, mother-daughter relationships, religion, and even feminism are fashioned through this beautiful melodic language that can be seen throughout the entirety of the book. Melanie Figg uses this language in order to provide insight into human nature to the readers, and in doing so offers this new perspective on these subjects. By drawing from outer influences of art and history, Figg is able to create various images that can both challenge and leave an impression on the reader. After close analysis of the poems in the collection, it becomes clear that Melanie Figg integrates an underlying message of traces. Some poems refer to leaving a trace, others allude to having traces erased and forgotten over time. Her long poem, called “Leaving a Trace,” exemplifies this underlying theme as she describes the Oregon State insane hospital in Salem, Oregon. While the lines of her poems are darker and more haunting for the reader, Melanie Figgs’ voice provides a sense of possibility that allows the reader to transform as they read.

[Scarlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this debut poetry collection TRACE, Melanie Figg addresses the underlying hardships of human existence: mental illness, war, death, pollution, spirituality, mortality, and family dysfunction. Her work was selected by Kirkus Reviews for one of the best Indie books of 2020, along with the National Endowment of the Arts poetry fellowship. In her poem “Stitching a World,” Figg writes, “spooled from the unremembered: the Goddess chewing on laurel leaves for prophecy and guiding her people to shelter from storms from the West.” The depth of her lyrical imagery unravels the despair at the core of existence. Her diction conveys a multitude of themes encompassing feminine struggle (how women are often overlooked) and their divine interconnection to nature. The symbolism in this volume is harmonious in translating the fragility of life. With a subtle warning Figg conveys how it can end without leaving a “trace.”
Similarly, in this reflection of human existence is a raw depiction of emotions people are often unwilling to confront. She eloquently unveils a variety of issues challenging her readers to partake in a transformative journey by looking inwardly to find solace. Not only does she rely on personal experience but simultaneously intertwines history and visual elements of art, such as Descent from the Cross to solidify her perspective. A component of her focus pays tribute to the voiceless, ranging from sexual abuse survivors to the overlooked remains in a Salem mental institution. Figg’s message resonates powerfully with readers imprinting the reminder that regardless of our struggles in life we possess the ability to overcome them.

[Chloe Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book... Melanie Figg draws heavily from art and history as she examines them alongside her own life as it continues to unfold. I really enjoyed reading the collection.

[Carrie Cantalupo-Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was deeply touched by this collection of poems. In particular: Stitching a World, Refuse, Courtship, No End in Sight, Absence makes the heart grow….. I could go on and on. The asylum poems also resonated with me as i grew up near Eloise in lower Michigan. Haunting poems.

[Susan Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply profound, visceral and moving. Complex poems that invite multiple readings. Do not miss this!