Mouth
2014 Winner of the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award
by Tracey Knapp
paperback, 98 pages
2015
Reviews:
Quotidian, weird, intimate, witty, and skittery, Knapp's poems are refractions through a funhouse mirror. They're self-conscious without being self-important. The wounded heart is everywhere apparent; we of that tribe can be grateful for one more of us to voice it, brilliantly. Mouth is a charmer of a first book. Read it and weep over your nachos and wine; it will leave you wanting more.
—Kim Addonizio
"The keynotes of Mouth are rueful resiliency and brash celebration in spite of losses. Characteristically charming and dauntless poems include the comic elegy "Goodbye, Milwaukee" and the poems about unsustainable romance like "Trust Me," "Lover Walking," "Utopia, Texas," and "Adult Dating." Also, the wonderfully touching poem of romantic realism, "The Only One You'll Ever." Tracey Knapp's protagonist is a funny, brave woman who refuses to quit appreciating life ("I write to say I have not yet splattered") and who knows she should never shut up.
—Mark Halliday
Tracey Knapp's Mouth sings of missed cabs, visible nipples, and awkward martinis. In other words: everything that matters. Pick striped shirts with her. Groan at the sky. Feel the moon dip into the trees. Don't be late. She has wine and cable.
—Daniel Nester
—Kim Addonizio
"The keynotes of Mouth are rueful resiliency and brash celebration in spite of losses. Characteristically charming and dauntless poems include the comic elegy "Goodbye, Milwaukee" and the poems about unsustainable romance like "Trust Me," "Lover Walking," "Utopia, Texas," and "Adult Dating." Also, the wonderfully touching poem of romantic realism, "The Only One You'll Ever." Tracey Knapp's protagonist is a funny, brave woman who refuses to quit appreciating life ("I write to say I have not yet splattered") and who knows she should never shut up.
—Mark Halliday
Tracey Knapp's Mouth sings of missed cabs, visible nipples, and awkward martinis. In other words: everything that matters. Pick striped shirts with her. Groan at the sky. Feel the moon dip into the trees. Don't be late. She has wine and cable.
—Daniel Nester
About the Author
Tracey Knapp works in graphic design and communications in San Francisco. She received graduate degrees in creative writing and English from Boston University and Ohio University, where she taught literature, composition and creative writing. She has received scholarships from The Tin House Writers Workshop and The Dorothy Rosenberg Poetry Fund.
