The Crimes of Clara Turlington
Out now from Vine Leaves Press
Winner of the 2015 Vignette Collection Award
"A fast-paced, kaleidoscopic ride." Red Paint Hill
"Each poem in Meg Johnson's second full length poetry collection serves as a warning to the men of Trump's America." Glass
"...The Crimes of Clara Turlington is not apologetic. ...The cunning female voices behind these poems are at once vulnerable and empowered, loudly declaring their flaws, ideas, and schemes while still remaining deeply human. ...sincere, surprising, but also quite humorous. The speakers of the poems have spunk and are unafraid to ask the tough questions we all have at the backs of our minds..." Barn Owl Review
"These poems are heartbreaking." Queen Mob's Tea House
Out now from Vine Leaves Press
Winner of the 2015 Vignette Collection Award
"A fast-paced, kaleidoscopic ride." Red Paint Hill
"Each poem in Meg Johnson's second full length poetry collection serves as a warning to the men of Trump's America." Glass
"...The Crimes of Clara Turlington is not apologetic. ...The cunning female voices behind these poems are at once vulnerable and empowered, loudly declaring their flaws, ideas, and schemes while still remaining deeply human. ...sincere, surprising, but also quite humorous. The speakers of the poems have spunk and are unafraid to ask the tough questions we all have at the backs of our minds..." Barn Owl Review
"These poems are heartbreaking." Queen Mob's Tea House
"Clara Turlington's [Meg Johnson's] girl gang teaches you how to make yourself unavailable, even when your body remains in the room. These girls know how to get things done. They attract the gaze and pin it to the ugly consequences of its greed. They're so visible as to be invisible. They laugh until we get the joke. They need naps and dirt naps. They make an uneasy alliance with other creatures who can anticipate a blow--horses, small children, some of us--and when they're lucky, feint." Danielle Pafunda |
“Meg Johnson's new book is a furry pink pillow full of blood and teeth. Slyly brilliant, funny, and scary all at the same time, its effect can only be achieved through a careful attention to craft and unwavering clarity. Her psychological portraits of women and our subconsciouses—of our indefatigable rage and imagination—of our struggle for power and independence—had me laughing and gasping at the same time.” Jennifer L. Knox
“At once fierce and fragile, the heroines of Meg Johnson’s vignettes invite readers to peer through keyholes and riffle pages. Secrets stain characters’ careful lives, lending mystery to lyrical poetic fragments. In precise, musical language, Johnson invites us to study the stories behind quotidian thoughts and feelings. The Crimes of Clara Turlington reads like a thought police blotter: every nuanced emotion called in and cuffed.” Carol Guess |
