LA FEMME by Amy Lauren

“Lauren’s LA FEMME lingers in the revelatory music of the deep Louisiana swamp, where summers sway with fairytale, mystery, voodoo, and magic, constantly tugging at the hem of what it means to be gay here.  We are compelled to follow Lauren’s journey through poems luscious and ripe on the vine.  Her work certainly rises from the bayou, crafting a beautiful tale of being queer and in love from a land that would try its best to turn that love under. These are rare poems of protection to keep close like guiding stars.”

–Jen Rouse, author of Acid and Tender

“Like a storm gathering energy, these poems crackle. LA FEMME takes the forces that make up identity–family, religion, geography, sexuality—and makes music from the tension between them. In these poems, lovers find their way home through the dark, ‘dirt glistens after rain.’ LA FEMME’s speaker doesn’t make sense of her journey; she shines light on the journey’s jagged pieces and makes beauty instead.”

–Cassie Pruyn, author of Lena

“LA FEMME speaks intimately of the convergence of person and place. It is poetry you cannot put away, her imagery re-surfacing long after you’ve set it down. I can still hear crickets “churring,” feel the ghostly zydeco “melting my bones.” To experience these poems is to know both the pain of “swallowing your Gospel” and the unyielding truth in the steady pull of geography. Lauren’s words are the guiding currents sending us home once again.”

–gina marie bernard, i am this girl