Smorgasbord Book Promotions – New Book on the Shelves – #Poetry – Our Wolves by Luanne Castle

Delighted to welcome Luanne Castle to the blog with her latest release a poetry collection Our Wolves

About the Collection

For many years, I explored fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood stories from around the world, and taught them in my children’s literature class. Traditional literature, like folk and fairy tales, was one of my favorite topics of the course. I was particularly fascinated with the French and German (Perrault and Grimm) versions of Red Riding Hood and decided to address the subject in a poetic way.

I am happy to announce my newest poetry chapbook, Our Wolves (Alien Buddha Press, 2023). Our Wolves looks at the identity of wolves in our everyday lives and the varied ways of viewing the wolf. For example, this character cannot be seen as merely bad or even redeemed or misunderstood, as in some interpretations of the fairy tale. Similarly, “Little Red” is not simply a victim or a representation of innocence. Instead, this collection reveals the tale as a conduit for many voices and interpretations of gender, identity, and feminism.

How to Digest the Wolf

Explore the wilderness of your father’s workshop.
Listen so intently that you can hear a turtle scratching
in the window well.
Offer an hour of pinochle or hoops.
Another distraction might be a good report card.
Study his face for bared teeth or curled lips.
Take the belt without crying.
Swallow the soap bubbles without crying.
Look into his yellow eyes without flinching.
Build a moat around your bed with piles of books.
Go out to play after dinner and don’t come home until the stars appear,
Then sneak in to your bedroom as if you were always there.
Stay overnight at anybody’s house, even the girl who smells like pee.
Find a wolf hunter to be your boyfriend.
Go away to college or, if that doesn’t work, marry the hunter.
Sign up for classes in wolf psychology and lupine warfare.
Lock up the hunter when the wolf comes around. Lay on your new armor
and sharpen your tongue. The better to chew him with.

One of the early reviews for the book by Christine Butterworth-McDermott, author of The Spellbook of Fruit & Flowers

In Our Wolves, poet Luanne Castle navigates the timeless story of “Little Red Riding Hood” in a compelling collection of sharp, memorable poetry. Familiar tales are ageless for a reason. Their magic is that they can easily be transformed to explore subjects of abuse, danger, sexuality, self-sufficiency, and interpersonal relationships in a way that makes these challenging topics palatable to readers. Trying to find the reasoning behind Red’s traumatic adventure, as well as using it to comment on contemporary events, Castle creates taut narratives and sympathetic monologues to show how the story shapeshifts with the teller. Here, we hear from the wolf, the huntsman/woodcutter, Grandmother, townspeople, and Red herself. Not just a victimized or innocent child, Castle’s Red also appears in wiser (and sometimes older) incarnations that are knowing, rebellious, resilient, and clever. This technique subverts stereotypical conventions and shows that Red’s story “is not so very different from yours / and yours and yours and yours and yours.” Filled with atmospheric power, dynamic portrayals, and bright imagery, Our Wolves will haunt you long after you’ve returned from its woods.

Head over to read the reviews and buy the collection: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

Also by Luanne Castle

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – Website/blog: Luanne Castle – Twitter: @writersitetweet – LinkedIn: Luanne Castle

About Luanne Castle

Luanne Castle’s first poetry collection, Doll God, winner of the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Poetry, was published by Aldrich/Kelsay Press. Her latest chapbook, Our Wolves, debuts in spring 2023 (Alien Buddha Press). Luanne has been a Fellow at the Center for Ideas and Society at the University of California, Riverside. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside (PhD); creative writing in poetry and fiction at Western Michigan University (MFA); and Stanford University (creative nonfiction). Her poetry and prose have appeared in Copper Nickel, American Journal of Poetry, Pleiades, TAB, Verse Daily, Saranac Review, Grist, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, and other publications.

 

Thanks for dropping in today and it would be fantastic if you could share the news of Luanne’s latest release..