My Women, My Monsters by Janet Kozachek
$14.99
“Read this book for the fun of it, and take a good long look at it too. My Women, My Monsters is a joy to behold. Hester Prynne and J. K. Rowling might have created some such monstrous merriment. Miraculously, Janet Kozachek created it all. Erudition, wit, and artistry flow freely on these pages. You may think this book is just a lark. Think again. It is a glorious exorcism.”
–“Larry Rhu, Todd Chair in the Italian Renaissance, Emeritus, University of South Carolina”
“In this book, Janet Kozachek, through her evocative illustrations and often biting poems, removes the lid of the cauldron containing several familiar feminine monsters–monsters that women know from their everyday encounters with other women and also from uncomfortable glances within. Thank you, Janet!”
–Janet A. Walker, Professor of Comparative Literature, Rutgers University
“The women within us and the women of literary and cultural history, with their longings and frustrations, their magnificent madness, spring forth in Janet’s drawings to meet us honestly as our shadow selves. Our fascination is matched only by our reckoning.”
–Professor Tamara Miles, Poet, Instructor of English and Humanities. Orangeburg Technical College
Description
My Women, My Monsters
by Janet Kozachek
$14.99, paper
978-1-64662-142-2
2020
Janet Kozachek is a visual artist and writer working from her studio in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Her education was unusually eclectic, having studied in Europe, China and the United States. She holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Drawing and Painting from Parsons School of Design in New York, where she also studied poetry with J.D. McClatchy. Her Certificate of Graduate Study in Chinese Art from the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) in the People’s Republic of China included the study of Chinese poetry and painting. Janet Kozachek has exhibited and published widely, was a Helena Rubinstein Scholar, a recipient of a Puffin Foundation grant, a South Carolina Humanities Council Grant, and numerous sub-grant awards funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Her poetry and illustrations have been published in Undefined magazine and in the journal Ekphrasis.
K. Miller (verified owner) –
A tour de force of poetry and art in partnership!
Explore your own inner demons with this fascinating and subtly humorous collection of poetry and art. Or recognize these female monsters in others you know. You are sure to connect with one or many of these beings that Janet Kozachek has created. But, if not, read this collection for the sheer enjoyment of the poems and illustrations themselves—both of which stand tall on their own literary and artistic merit.
It is unfortunate, in this edition, that not all of the illustrations are full page. One can only hope that an expanded edition will be released in the future that does justice to Ms. Kozachek’s finely detailed artwork which accompanies the poems. But for now enjoy this edition and the imaginative characters contained therein.
MJ –
Here be monsters. This book is crawling with creative creatures inspired by nature and mythology. I highly recommended for lovers of fantasy, monsters, and folklore.
Stephanie Sugioka –
In this wonderful little book, Janet Kozachek has not just portrayed a weird, wacky, witchy company of women monsters, she has created a mythology that has previously been missing from the American culture. Inspired by a friend’s observation that such monsters need to be given existence, Kozachek masterfully illustrates and describes her often creepy and always intriguing subjects. And while they are bizarre, the reader can plainly recognize some of her own deeply engrained characteristics in these monsters. “The Duchess of Lists,” for example, reveals women’s propensity for setting infinite tasks for themselves and then “failing” to execute them “perfectly.” Kozachek strikingly illustrates her monstrous creations. Her skillful, detailed renderings perfectly capture the monsters described in her poems. Reading and viewing Kozachek’s work is not just an interesting scholarly pursuit; it is an exciting experience, and one not to be missed.