THE BOOK: The Space Poet.
PUBLISHED IN: 2020
THE AUTHOR: Samantha Edmonds.
THE EDITOR: Kristine Langley Mahler and Caleb Tankersley.
THE PUBLISHER: Split/Lip Press.
SUMMARY: In this hybrid work of prose and poetry, Samantha Edmonds tells the story of an artist—the first in space—sent by NASA to the International Space Station on a mission to make the stars accessible to those left on the ground. Nimbly pairing themes of queerness, religious guilt, and an uneasy search for belonging with scientific theories about multiverses, universal consciousness, and habitability on other planets, The Space Poet stands at the edges of human reach, out in the black where nothing can live, and dares to imagine a home.
THE BACK STORY: The Space Poet is born from obsession. I have long been a fan of science fiction and space stories. The Space Poet came out of that interest, certainly, but more importantly it came from the realization that what many considered to be science fiction (living in space) has been the reality for astronauts for several years—and that it wasn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. This is a space story, but it’s not science fiction. Instead, this book is my attempt to reconcile a hope for a bright shiny future with the very real limitations of our world.
WHY THIS TITLE?: I think this one is pretty self-evident!’
WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO READ IT? This book is a hybrid; it brings together my favorite things about fiction and poetry. It moves with a poet’s impulses—tracing image, language, emotion, theme—but these individual vignettes are held together by the connective tissue of a larger narrative linking the characters and stories together.
REVIEW COMMENTS:
“What if NASA hadn’t canceled their plans to send a series of civilians—a teacher, a journalist, a poet—to space? What if the space poet were a reluctant traveler with imposter syndrome, a recent breakup, and an unerring eye for the details that make life in space uncomfortable, strange, and beautiful?” —Margaret Lazarus Dean, author of Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Space Flight.
“It’s understandable that the narrator of Samantha Edmonds’ The Space Poet wants to get away from earth—the politics, the dying planet, the Pentecostal family who would reject her for the woman she loves. This lyric meditation of space, longing, and the queer female experience explores the endless distances we must cross for what and whom we love.” —Erin Elizabeth Smith, author of The Naming of Strays.
AUTHOR PROFILE: Samantha Edmonds is also the author of the chapbook Pretty to Think So (Selcouth Station Press, 2019). Her work has been nominated for Best American Essays and twice for the Pushcart Prize. Her fiction has appeared in such journals as Best Small Fictions, Ninth Letter, Michigan Quarterly Review, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, among others. Her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times, Gay Magazine, The Rumpus, VICE, Bustle, and more. Currently, she works as the Assistant Prose Editor for Sundress Publications and as the Fiction Editor for Doubleback Review, a new journal within the Sundress Publications family. She holds an MA in creative writing from the University of Cincinnati and an MFA from the University of Tennessee. Originally from Ohio, she now lives in Columbia, MO, where she’s a PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of Missouri. Here’s something the professional bio won’t tell you: She has a lot of pets.
LOCAL OUTLETS: The best place to purchase is from Split/Lip Press’ website! https://www.splitlippress.com/the-space-poet.
WHERE ELSE TO BUY IT: It is also available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Space-Poet-Samantha-Edmonds/dp/B084DGQGN4).
PRICE: $12.00.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR: You can contact me by visiting my website http://www.samanthaedmonds.com or following me on Twitter: @sam_edmonds122
Snowflakes in a Blizzard 