Doll Parts, by Julia Herndon

Poetry, chapbook, 20 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Doll Parts, a delicate yet visceral interpretation of a paper doll blueprint, explores the struggle of self distinction under a veil of competing expectations. The collection acts as an exposé on growing up as a child of divorce as well as on the condition of daughterhood. From top to bottom, every aspect of the speaker is assigned a parent, a pose, and an intended use.

Incredibly raw and sentimental, Doll Parts illustrates what it means to be an amalgamation of spare pieces. It tracks the speaker as she grapples with childhood ideals and her current state of being, showing the friction that comes in moments when they are realized and in the moments when they aren’t. Beyond this, though, the collection is an ode to stolen parts and all of the people that they came from.

Julia Herndon is currently studying Visual Media Arts at Emerson College where she will be graduating in the fall of 2024. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Herndon has always had an overwhelming passion for writing in every form, using poetry specifically as a way to reconnect with her home, her past, and her identity. Doll Parts will be her debut publication.