October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.44 (628 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0763658073 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 128 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-02-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
WINNER OF A 2013 STONEWALL HONOR!A masterful poetic exploration of the impact of Matthew Shepard’s murder on the world.On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life.
Usually I hate Verse NovelsBut I love this one. I am a visual artist and do not express myself with words very well. That's one of the reasons I enjoy reading is finding beauty in words and the storytelling. The foreshadowing and mood setting with word choice. This is a different but beautiful art form. Poetry with iambic pentameter and rhyme schemes tha. incredible for so many reasons Matthew Shepard was a 21 year-old University of Wyoming student who was beaten, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die, exposed to the cold in rural Wyoming. The crime was movtivated by hate: the two men who murdered him killed him because he was gay. I grew up not far from where Shepard died; it is revolting to me that . kbgressitt said October Mourning is difficult to read, but you must. Why do we write poetry? Is it for ourselves as much as for others, a way to confront, explore, capture a fragment of enlightenment? Do we write poetry to cleanse us of corruption, remind us of our limitations, celebrate our vision, our diversity, to reveal a human tragedy in art?In Lesléa Newman's new collection of p
Written with love, anger, regret, and other profound emotions, this is a truly important book that deserves the widest readership, not only among independent readers but among students in a classroom setting, as well. The beautifully realized selections are also written in a variety of forms, ranging from haiku to villanelle, from concrete poetry to rhymed couplets. Her poems are told from multiple points of view, including that of the fence, the rope that bound the boy, and a doe that stood watch over him. Each form (discussed in an appendix) matches the tone and mood of its content, creating an almost musical effect that is both intellectually and aesthetically engaging. --Michael Cart . In the 68 poems that make up this novel-in-verse, Newman re-creates the events and circumstances surrounding this unspeakably vile hate crime and offers a moving tribute to a young man she regards as a martyr. Grades 8-12. From Booklist *Starred Review*