Until I met Amie Whittemore (director of the Middle Tennessee State University creative writing certificate program called MTSU Write), I didn’t know that feminist sci-fi and fantasy poetry even existed. In fact, as a lover of prose, I hadn’t given poetry much thought for years. But in the end, who could resist a summons to delve into extraordinary, offbeat worlds wrapped in the perfect phrase?
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As a writer and educator, Amie is so much more than her prestigious academic credits, awards, and countless literary publications. Her website simply can’t capture the warmth of her personality or the light in her eyes when speaking of teaching English and mentoring students at MTSU. In a poem published by Hobart, September 9, 2019, which might appeal to readers of The West Trestle Review, she addressed a student in response to an evaluation for one of her science fiction classes:




​MY SUPERPOWER
​
Student, it’s true—I prefer women
to lentils, to crossfit classes,
to retirement plan selection,
leaf blowers, plastic bags
and roller coasters; it’s also true
I’ll take a female protagonist
over a ham sandwich any day
and that women befriending
robot spiders, sexing up aliens,
and becoming fierce mermaids
congregate on my syllabus…

Those of us lucky enough to be touched by Amie’s work, cherish her energy, grace, and candor as rare gifts indeed. Her sensual debut poetry collection, Glass Harvest (Autumn House Press) which was published in 2016, resonates with secrets, explorations of nature, and dissonance within families. The lyricism of the language may draw you to tears. Many of Amie’s poetry and prose pieces are available online, but I’ll definitely be watching for both of her forthcoming collections, Star-Tent: A Triptych (Tolsun Books, 2023) and Nest of Matches (Autumn House Press, 2024).

I guarantee it, you won’t regret RSVPing yes to any invitation to set sail in Amie Whittemore’s world.

                                                                     ~Angela Joynes

I think, what a bright day
god has given, what a way to live
without a knee on your throat.
“In June”

Reading Rage Hezekiah’s Yearn (Diode, 2022) I gasp audibly again and again. I ask myself—how did the author give herself the permission to say what these poems say? It’s hard to extract yourself from the book’s energy once you begin. Propelled breathlessly from poem to poem, I traveled Hezekiah’s wide-ranging forms and razor-sharp language.  

The book begins and ends in the body, in the rawness of desire—first, a youthful and robust sexuality, and by the end, the labor of wanting and creating a child. In the words of Evie Shockley, these poems show “a woman making her desires known to herself, so she can step out to meet the life she wants to live.” The speaker’s voice grows ever more rooted and earthbound, experiencing wonder and grief in the same tight line, able to both pierce the world with her looking, and turn inward to reflect on the self. 

There’s so much to admire about Hezekiah’s use of language. She has a knack for brevity. I can feel the intentionality of each word, charged and carefully chosen, playing its role in a concise, measured amount of space. Her poems say only what needs to be said. They sparkle with clarity and precision. I love how the short, economical poems in this book work in harmony with other sweeping, spacious poems. This collection is full of breath, longing, and revelation. 

This is Hezekiah’s second collection, following her debut Stray Harbor. Each of her books has moved me deeply. In landscapes of community gardens, orchards, grasslands, and so many glittering bodies of water, she names and renames the divine, a God who “planted/ kinesthetic stars/within the bay, bright/ sparks flowering.” Reading her books, I connect to my own ancient longings, part of a larger body that weaves all bodies together. Her language brings me home.
​                                                                               ~​Mónica Gomery

                                                                   ~Kathryn Petruccelli