The American Gun by Jessica Femiani

“Jessica Femiani‘s American Gun confronts gun violence in language that weaves a distinctly American tapestry with verve and tenacity.  From the Italian grandfather who hauls cast iron tubs up flights of stairs, to the child looking for a safe place to hide during school shootings, I trust this poem’s steadiness, the solid ground from it rises.”

–Melissa Tuckey, Editor, Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology

Jessica Femiani holds space in her poetry for the people and memories that would otherwise be lost to the cruel conditions that are a reality of being and becoming American. The way her experience of stories about her great-grandfather and grandfather melt into her experience as a teacher in a country rife with mass shootings is achingly honest. The poems are alluring but aren’t afraid to wound you. Her writing is artful yet accessible and absolutely necessary.

–Cammy Pedroja, author of Notes on Vanishing

Jessica Femiani’s American Gun is a brilliant, expansive poem that explores the subject of guns, hatred, and mass shootings in America and the personal toll these horrific events take on our individual and national psyche. She unpacks the statistics to expose this stain on the soul of our country, this shadow over our daily lives.

–Jim Daniels, author of The Luck of the Fall.