Jacqueline West, Writer
Poetry
 Buy Cherma, published by the University of Wisconsin's Parallel Press. |
ChermaPoetry chapbook published by the University of Wisconsin's Parallel Press. Jacqueline West draws inspiration from the names, local records, and family stories of a small group of Bohemian immigrants who settled in western Wisconsin’s Pierce County in the late 1800s. Known as the Cherma settlement, it was named after the village of Dolní Cermná in the modern-day Czech Republic. West presents a compelling picture of the lives, relationships, and hardships experienced by these immigrants. Read the University's press release. Cherma is a 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist West uses pictorial language, helping us into the settlers' experiences: "waiting roots shriveled like finger bones" "the silent curve of her spine / rolling down toward the floor like a broken hill." She never intrudes herself into the stories, making sure not to break the illusions of this world she has created. Anyone who enjoys novels, history and/or the intersection of these two in historical fiction would enjoy these lovely poems. I was reminded especially of Louise Erdrich. By weaving fragile imagery into the stark tones of these narrative poems, West reveals a multitude of vulnerabilities hidden below her characters’ steely resolves. Her careful attention to nuanced detail elevates specific events to universal experience and underscores the gains and losses of a people who have sacrificed much for their admission into American society. An engrossing speculation into the ordinary lives of rural Americans, highly recommended to anyone who loves fine poetry. |
Forthcoming
- Smash Cake Magazine
Published
December 2011
"Black Sheep" - Fantastique Unfettered under December 2011 (listing only available online)
September 2011
"Buying the Muse" in Ideomancer
"Styx" in NitebladeJune 2011
"Escaping the Dawn" in Cover of Darkness (listing only available online)
• Nominated for a 2012 Rhysling Award •April 2011
"Sin Eater" in Paper Crow (listing only available online)
December 2010
"Mother-Die" in Stone Telling
October 2010
"Corpselight" in Paper Crow (listing only available online)
July 2010
"One October Night in Baltimore" in Sybil's Garage #7
June 2010
"Seashell" in Enchanted Conversation
May 2010
"To a Friend in Alaska," and "Friday, 3 p.m., British Museum" in The Literary Bohemian
April 2010
"Artemis, in the Kitchen" and "The Evil Eye" in Illumen
March 2010
Cherma - University of Wisconsin, Madison's Parallel Press chapbook series
February 2010
"Early Frost" in Grasslimb
November 2009
"Notre Dame de Paris" in Sugar House Review
October 2009
"Abracadabra" in Goblin Fruit
"After the Trial" in ChiZine
September 2009
"Tiresias on Eighth Avenue" and "Midas" in flashquake
June 2009
"Arsinoe's Letter to her Sister" in Lone Star Stories
April 2009
"Crash," "Ashes," and "Fade Out" in Neon Magazine
"Lethe" in ChiZine
March 2009
"Residue" (Listing only available online) in A cappella Zoo
"The Woman at the Well," "Early Frost," and "Strangers" in Prick of the Spindle
"After Party" in 42opus
January 2009
"Watching the Old Man Clean the Pike" and "Heiligeberge" in Barnwood
"At the Traveling Monet Exhibition" in The Rose & Thorn
"Neurotransmission" and "Venus in Travilla" in ChiZine
October 2008
"Rusalka" in Illumen
"Stranded on the Red Cedar River" in Inkwell Journal, Fall 2008 Issue
"Family Ritual" in Aberrant Dreams
"Doppelgängers" in Goblin Fruit
Includes Jacqueline's reading of the poemAugust 2008
"In the Brush Pile" in GlassFire Magazine
"Teenage Atlas, in the Kitchen" and "Life through a Black Net Veil" in Fickle Muses
"Antigone, at the Mall" in Oddlands
July 2008
"Candle and Pins" (Listing only available online) in The Willows
"Lakeside" (Sound file) in Rose & Thorn
Jacqueline's reading of her Pushcart Prize-nominated poem, published by The Rose and Thorn Literary E-zine in their Winter 2005 issue"Armaros" in Oddlands
May 2008
"All in a Row" and "Eggshells" (Listing only) in Mythic Delirium Issue 18
April 2008
"The Calendar of the Dead" in Strange Horizons
March 2008
"Stratford on Avon" in flashquake
January 2008
"Groundskeeper at Heptonstall" in St. Ann's Review
November 2007
"Bread" and "When the Cows Attack" in Heartlands
April 2007
"Obituary Clipping, in an Envelope" (Print only) in Briar Cliff Review
• Nominated for a 2007 Pushcart Prize •March 2007
"Afternoon Burial, 1931" in Prairie Poetry
November 2006
“Poem – for Michele Murray” in Barnwood
October 2006
“What Tools” in Chizine
September 2006
“Little Ten Fingers” in Prairie Poetry
April 2006
“The Putting Away" and “March Thaw" (Listing only available online) in Pebble Lake Review
March 2006
“Without Rain at Trafalgar” (PDF format) in Poetry Midwest
“Scarecrow” (Listing only available online) in Not One of Us
January 2006
“Lakeside” in The Rose and Thorn
• Nominated for a 2006 Pushcart Prize •December 2005
“Anachronism under King’s Cross” in flashquake
August 2005
“Life through a Black Net Veil” in The Pedestal Magazine
June 2005
“Banshee” in Mytholog
May 2005
“Daughter to Mother” in Children, Churches and Daddies
April 2005
“Two Travelers” in Children, Churches and Daddies
March 2005
“Archive” in Hidden Oak
January 2005
“Strike” in Poetry Motel
“In the Brush Pile…” in Barbaric Yawp