My Apocrypha, by Rose Jenny

Poetry, chapbook, 36 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Queer people must often do the emotional labor of reconciling with their respective pasts. This is especially true of those who grow up trapped in conservative Christian spaces. Nostalgia is not easily accessible to those who grow up repressed, those hoping to move somewhere more accepting. Embracing these revelations, My Apocrypha attempts to spark a reconciliation that spurs forth a rewritten self-narrative.

Poet Rose Jenny is not simply concerned with overlaying a glossy veneer. This is a chapbook full of blood, left over from self-flagellation as well as failed love affairs. This volume attempts to remix memory through formality as well as aesthetic deconstruction. Rose tries to mine her history while infusing Biblical storytelling until both become inextricably linked. Whether it is informed by addiction, mental illness, interpersonal estrangement, or theatrical performance, My Apocrypha is ultimately a piece that points toward hope.

We have too many tragic endings. While this chapbook does not hide from such stories, it is not devoid of the queer future we hope for ourselves. We must project ourselves into tomorrow, and the only way forward is together. My Apocrypha is an outstretched hand that waits for the reader to reach out and grasp.

Rose Jenny is a trans writer/performer based in Florida. Her work has been published in Santa Fe Writers Project Quarterly, South Florida Poetry Journal, Pensive Journal, new words {press}, The Athena Review, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. She holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from University of South Florida. Additionally, she is the recipient of the 2021 Estelle J. Zbar Poetry Award. Rose is pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at University of Miami.