The #MeToo movement meets Greek mythology in Florida author Raegen M. Pietrucha’s forthcoming debut full-length poetry collection, “Head of a Gorgon,” out through Vegetarian Alcoholic Press in May. It is a narrative in poems that transports an ancient tale of sexual violence, the myth of Medusa, into today’s landscape and examines it through a feminist lens.
“Medusa has never been so alive as here in this drama that melds myth and memoir to armor its central tale of abuse, one so thorough and awful that it pierces time, and yet, it is along that very knife that poet and gorgon join forces to shape their ‘haven with … pitchy songs,’” said Larissa Szporluk, a Bowling Green State University creative writing professor and award-winning author.
Via persona poems that enable readers to hear this story of trauma primarily and directly from a protagonist often sidelined or silenced in other tellings, Pietrucha’s devastating collection brings the visceral physical and psychological experiences and effects of sexual violence out of the shadows and into the spotlight, revealing a path along which survivors might reimagine themselves within the societal structures that work against them.
“Physical, philosophical, and brilliantly structured, this collection does not flinch, even when facing demons. Even when — especially when — reclaiming its rights,” said Brad Aaron Modlin, the Reynolds Endowed Chair of Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and award-winning author.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, this work has never been more timely or critical — not only to those who have survived sexual violence but also to those who may be in a position to change the systems that perpetuate it.
“If, because I’ve given voice here to experiences others told me and fellow women to remain silent on, my book inspires anyone to speak out or take action against abuses and injustices, then I will have accomplished my goals for this work,” Pietrucha said. “And I deeply hope that will be the case.”
