I/O

Madeleine Wattenberg

• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781682261637
• eBook ISBN: 9781610757423
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Poetry
• Index: Literature

Finalist for the 2021 Miller Williams Poetry Prize.

Madeleine Wattenberg's debut collection I/O, finalist for the 2021 Miller Williams Poetry Prize, alternates between epistolary poems to the mythical figure Io and lyrical interrogations of science, myth, and the historical record. Wattenberg casts Io—the priestess of Hera who was turned into a heifer—as a woman struggling to navigate the terrain between choice and coercion. Accompanying the letters to Io are poems whose explorations range from laboratories to airships in their pursuit of answers. Here the poetic imagination emerges as its own laboratory, drawing inspiration as much from ancient myth as from science and steampunk as it refuses to be constrained by a final conclusion.

CONTENTS

1. Cover Page
2. Title Page
3. Copyright Page
4. Contents
5. Series Editor’s Preface
6. Except by Violence (i)
7. Dear Io
8. Charon’s Obol
9. Dear Io
10. Ars Mythos
11. Dear Io
12. Field Guide to Fission
13. Dear Io
14. Poem in Which the Trojan Horse Burns Blue
15. Dear Io
16. Invocation to Flame
17. Flute
18. Dear Io
19. —
20. Imprint with Need
21. Reconfiguration
22. An Inventory of Margaret Cavendish’s Laboratory
23. Graf Zeppelin over Siberia
24. The Blazing Field
25. Uses for Late Frost
26. —
27. Dear Io
28. Osteoclasts
29. Echeneis, or Six Ways of Letting Go
30. Aphagia
31. Helium
32. Poem for the Father outside the Poem
33. Language’s Anatomy
34. Consumption Triptych
35. Elegy for Escaped Aerostat
36. —
37. Dear Io
38. (Re)
39. Dear Io
40. What Happens in a Room
41. List of Forgotten Hinges
42. Dear Io
43. Poem with a Penny Underneath
44. Poem in Which the Sphinx Moth Is Again Mistaken for a Hummingbird and Myth for Science
45. Dear Io
46. Coin Toss
47. Name
48. Except by Violence (ii)
49. Acknowledgments
50. Notes

Series Editor’s Preface

Except by Violence (i)

Dear Io

Charon’s Obol

Dear Io

Ars Mythos

Dear Io

Field Guide to Fission

Dear Io

Poem in Which the Trojan Horse Burns Blue

Dear Io

Invocation to Flame

Flute

Dear Io

—

Imprint with Need

Reconf...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Series Editor’s Preface
• Except by Violence (i)
• Dear Io
• Charon’s Obol
• Dear Io
• Ars Mythos
• Dear Io
• Field Guide to Fission
• Dear Io
• Poem in Which the Trojan Horse Burns Blue
• Dear Io
• Invocation to Flame
• Flute
• Dear Io
• —
• Imprint with Need
• Reconfiguration
• An Inventory of Margaret Cavendish’s Laboratory
• Graf Zeppelin over Siberia
• The Blazing Field
• Uses for Late Frost
• —
• Dear Io
• Osteoclasts
• Echeneis, or Six Ways of Letting Go
• Aphagia
• Helium
• Poem for the Father outside the Poem
• Language’s Anatomy
• Consumption Triptych
• Elegy for Escaped Aerostat
• —
• Dear Io
• (Re)
• Dear Io
• What Happens in a Room
• List of Forgotten Hinges
• Dear Io
• Poem with a Penny Underneath
• Poem in Which the Sphinx Moth Is Again Mistaken for a Hummingbird and Myth for Science
• Dear Io
• Coin Toss
• Name
• Except by Violence (ii)
• Acknowledgments
• Notes