Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Five of the best books of poetry for sci-fi fans

At io9 Rebecca Ariel Porte came up with five of the best books of poetry for every kind of science fiction fan.

One title on her list:
Cyborgia by Susan Slaviero (Mayapple Press 2010)

Representative lines: "Theoretically, there's a way to create a ribcage from guitar strings, to fashion jawbones from vintage bracelets. It so happens that a female frame is best woven from titanium knitting needles, peppermint hips, the ends of French cigarettes. The dog might notice she isn't real, but no one else can tell the difference. You'll find she is content" ("Phenomena of Probability" 8)

Working questions: This collection is deeply interested in bodies, particularly in womens' experience of what it means to inhabit a body in a machine age. Slaviero alludes to and ventriloquizes mythic figures from Briar Rose to Eve in playful, erudite language with plenty of vivid sensory detail.

For: Fans of Catherynne M. Valente; folklorists; post-human theorists.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue