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A poetic exposé of girlhood, obsession, and the CSI industry.
From Snow White to the Yde Girl and Helen of Troy to JonBenét, this lurid and lyrical debut explores the transition from girlhood to womanhood and America’s almost pornographic fascination with missing and exploited children. Topical and timely, Darst’s poems draw from both the oldest tales and the current vein of child / young woman endangerment horror—recalling and responding to true crime exposés, pulp detective fiction, classic fables, modern novels like The Lovely Bones, and TV shows like Law & Order.
From Snow White to the Yde Girl and Helen of Troy to JonBenét, this lurid and lyrical debut explores the transition from girlhood to womanhood and America’s almost pornographic fascination with missing and exploited children. Topical and timely, Darst’s poems draw from both the oldest tales and the current vein of child / young woman endangerment horror—recalling and responding to true crime exposés, pulp detective fiction, classic fables, modern novels like The Lovely Bones, and TV shows like Law & Order.
Price: $16.00
Pages: 88
Publisher: Coffee House Press
Imprint: Coffee House Press
Publication Date:
01 April 2010
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781566892445
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
“A dark but beautiful first book. . . . This is a vital poetry of the Deep South ripe with bones, blood and bogs, Snow Whites, Gretels and debutantes all stirred into a harrowing stew of lust, dusk and summer.” —The New York Times
“A unique and dynamic collection of poetry.” —Feminist Review
“[Darst] dives in, turning gruesome forensics into the filigree of poetry, and examining the strange pall that dead-girl culture . . . throws over the adolescence of real girls.” —MinnPost
“Fairy-tale prose blends vivid botanical images with not-so-happy endings. . . . Find the Girl is empowering in a brutal way. Read it and you will find the pages turning, as if [of] their own volition.” —Minnesota Reads
“A rich and honest chronicle of the transition from girlhood to womanhood. You won’t find poems about pearls, ribbons and curls here.” —Southern Minnesota Venus
“[Find the Girl] is a forceful, unforgettable, debut by a writer who has already learned her craft. The writing is assured, urgent and arresting.” —Galatea Resurrects
“Bluegrass and teen lust, the sequels to horror films and the modernist fragment, perennial myth and murder mystery, all erupt into Lightsey Darst’s serious poems. . . . Darst is playing with fire: her verse lights up the night sky.” —Stephanie Burt
“[Darst] has done something truly new.” —Laura Kasischke
“We should not lie about life. Find the Girl, in its violent intricacies unearthed by the hand of a poet dutiful to the women and girls long lost from poetry, knows this. . . . An important, ravaging debut.” —Katie Ford
“A unique and dynamic collection of poetry.” —Feminist Review
“[Darst] dives in, turning gruesome forensics into the filigree of poetry, and examining the strange pall that dead-girl culture . . . throws over the adolescence of real girls.” —MinnPost
“Fairy-tale prose blends vivid botanical images with not-so-happy endings. . . . Find the Girl is empowering in a brutal way. Read it and you will find the pages turning, as if [of] their own volition.” —Minnesota Reads
“A rich and honest chronicle of the transition from girlhood to womanhood. You won’t find poems about pearls, ribbons and curls here.” —Southern Minnesota Venus
“[Find the Girl] is a forceful, unforgettable, debut by a writer who has already learned her craft. The writing is assured, urgent and arresting.” —Galatea Resurrects
“Bluegrass and teen lust, the sequels to horror films and the modernist fragment, perennial myth and murder mystery, all erupt into Lightsey Darst’s serious poems. . . . Darst is playing with fire: her verse lights up the night sky.” —Stephanie Burt
“[Darst] has done something truly new.” —Laura Kasischke
“We should not lie about life. Find the Girl, in its violent intricacies unearthed by the hand of a poet dutiful to the women and girls long lost from poetry, knows this. . . . An important, ravaging debut.” —Katie Ford
Originally from Tallahassee, Florida, Lightsey Darst is a writing instructor, dance critic, and dancer who lives in Minneapolis where she curates a writers’ salon. The recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, her poems have appeared in the Antioch Review, Diagram, Gulf Coast, Monkey Bicycle, New Letters, and elsewhere. Find the Girl is her first collection.