With its reimagining of a foundational Greek myth, Sarah Ahrens‘s marvelous Mother Minotaur joins the company of such distinguished works as Louise Gluck’s Meadowlands and Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red. What makes her book especially moving is its candid interweaving of the most intimate experiences—medical crises, disability, the challenge of parenting neurodivergent children—with the tale of the minotaur, whom Ahrens boldly recasts as a mother helping to guide her young through and from the maze of her own being. All the elements of the classic story—Ariadne, Daedalus, Theseus, monster, labyrinth, red thread—take on new resonances as they embody the pain, guilt, tenderness, and joy of motherhood, in poems that shimmer between myth and memoir.
–Roger Gilbert, Cornell University, author of the forthcoming In the Wind My Rescue Is: The Life and Art of A. R. Ammons (Princeton University Press)
In this powerful debut collection, Sarah Ahrens leads us through the beautiful, shadowy labyrinth that is her experience of living with hearing loss and mothering twice-gifted children. This unflinching and moving book reminds us that to love deeply is to participate in a mystery that delivers great joy–and brings us to our knees, again and again.
–Mark Rader, author of The Wanting Life
Sarah Ahrens‘s MOTHER MINOTAUR is more than a collection; it is a brilliant labyrinth that spirals like the inner ear. Inside you will find the maternal body stitched back together with a mythological thread so long it reaches all of us in the astonishing present. To read Ahrens is to get lost with her at home, and be at home inside her lostness. An absolutely beautiful debut.
–Sabrina Orah Mark, author of Happily
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