Rue

by Kathryn Nuernberger

One of Big Other 's "Most Anticipated Small Press Books of 2020" In this fiercely feminist ecopoetic collection, Kathryn Nuernberger reclaims love and resilience in an age of cruelty. As the speaker―an artist and intellectual―finds herself living through a rocky marriage in a conservative rural state, she maintains her sense of identity by studying the science and folklore of plants historically used for birth control. Her botanical portraits of common herbs like Queen Anne’s lace and pennyroyal are interwoven with lyric biographies of groundbreaking women ecologists whose stories have been left untold in textbooks. With equal parts righteous fury and tender wisdom, Rue reassesses the past and recontextualizes the present to tell a story about breaking down, breaking through, and breaking into an honest, authentic expression of self.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, paperback

First published April 7, 2020

Reviews

[silas denver melvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

need to read again

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

five stars. neurnberger encapsulates the experience of being a woman and mixes it with a lovely description of nature. the form is consistent and purposeful, and the poems are pieces that i plan on rereading in the future, i know that i will learn more with every read.

[Noé Hernández · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the book of a poet, we're not facing Rupi Kaur-esque sentences, considering this: Nuernberger's poetry wasn't insightful, I really like the playfulness and, overall, good sense of humor. It was the anecdotical and narrative-driven-ness that didn't fully sit well with me. Nuerenberger has good command of the language, and even if I gave it 3 stars, I'd recommend this book anytime to anyone invested in the quirks of this kind of poetry.

[J Macarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poems of Kathryn Nuernberger’s Rue (BOA Editions, 2020) have made a cyanotype impression on me as a woman and poet concerned with the abuse of power within patriarchy, male violence against women, women’s reproductive rights, OBGYN male-dominated health care for women, and ecological sensitivity and respect for fauna and flora, in particular—pennyroyal, Queen Anne’s lace, nettles, among others used as birth control, according to the intelligence of old wives’ tales and midwives:

“I've been reading about hallucinatory flowers
lately, particularly the ones used by medieval
midwives to induce abortion. this because
I like irony, I like control, and I like to see
a woman flipping the patriarchy the bird.”

This poet, Kathryn Nuernberger, “She and I feel so many of the same / things that we only communicate them via poems.” There's a pervading relief in gratefulness for Kathryn Nuernberger’s company and the poems of her book, Rue.

This book is a clear, direct, genuine, generous, an honest, including book, a book allowing, fierce, full of ire, full of “shades of”:

“There's language again, / twisting what is into what isn't.”
“Words never seem to live up to the promise they make us.”

This is a book that defines its own terms.

[Alyse Knorr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nuernberger masterfully wields humor and sarcasm alongside gut-punching sincerity in these beautiful feminist poems. She perfectly captures the large and small horrors of pregnancy, childbirth, and mothering in poems whose constant turns delight, surprise, and reveal much.

[Margaryta · Rating 5 out of 5]

REVIEW FORTHCOMING

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this is a wonderful book. Blunt, beautiful, and so heartbreaking at times.

[Rachel Lauve · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Amie Whittemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel incredibly fancy writing the first goodreads review for Rue--one of the joys of being a book reviewer.

This is a gorgeous, smart book. Nuernberger has the ability to take a handful of ingredients and weave them into these meditations, that are partially narrative-driven, but mostly driven by a capacious intelligence and curiosity. This book reminds me a lot of Erika Meitner's Holy Moly Carry Me in this regard, and in its meditations on contemporary life, particularly, in Nuernberger's case the frustrations of department politics, of small, isolated town life, of a wounded marriage, of mothering, of flowers, of women learning to simmer in their anger and see where it takes them.

I dog-eared many pages. I look forward to many encounters with this smart, lovely book.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.theadroitjournal.org/2020...

I savored this book in a way I rarely do: one poem at a time. I read one each morning and it interlaced with everything throughout the day. I recommend this book very very highly.