{"product_id":"firsmjh","title":"First Father, by Melissa Joplin Higley","description":"\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePoetry, chapbook, 36 pages, from\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b00ff;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-mce-style=\"color: #2b00ff;\"\u003e\u003ca style=\"color: #2b00ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/bottlecap.press\/collections\/bottlecap-features\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-mce-style=\"color: #2b00ff;\" data-mce-href=\"https:\/\/bottlecap.press\/collections\/bottlecap-features\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBottlecap Features\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMelissa Joplin Higley’s debut chapbook \u003cem\u003eFirst Father\u003c\/em\u003e is a thematic collection of short poems based on research about her biological father, whom she never knew, who struggled with alcoholism, and who died in a motor vehicle accident when she was seven years old.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eClear-eyed and raw, these poems represent a process of discovery about who her biological father really was, beyond her decades-long, limited idea of him as she was growing up. Each poem works as a small letter addressed directly to him, in which the repeated “you” becomes a refrain in the larger context of abandonment, loss, and grief.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA collection of miniature wounds, the poems in \u003cem\u003eFirst Father\u003c\/em\u003e take the reader through the speaker’s journey of gathering the scattered pieces of her history and trying to reconcile singular, irreversible decisions with their lifelong repercussions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMelissa Joplin Higley won the Grand Prize in the 90th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition in 2021 for her poem “Anticipatory Grief.” A Best of the Net nominee, her work appears or is forthcoming in \u003cem\u003eAnti-Heroin Chic\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFeral\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMER\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Night Heron Barks\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eONE ART\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRight Hand Pointing\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSleet Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWhale Road Review\u003c\/em\u003e, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and co-facilitates the Poetry Craft Collective. Melissa lives near the sea in New York with her multi-general family and four tuxedo cats. Visit her online: melissajoplinhigley.com.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Melissa Joplin Higley","offers":[{"title":"Chapbook","offer_id":47546874495291,"sku":"FIRSMJH","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (PDF)","offer_id":47546874528059,"sku":"FIRSMJHe","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0062\/4420\/4614\/files\/firstcover.png?v=1703104676","url":"https:\/\/bottlecap.press\/products\/firsmjh","provider":"Bottlecap Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}