Grand Athena, by Madeline Weisbeck

Poetry, chapbook, 32 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

Grand Athena by Madeline Weisbeck follows the story of a fictional circus, traveling around the United Kingdom in the early 1900s. Focusing heavily on the trapeze artists, ballerinas, and gymnasts in the troupe. Grand Athena is the name of the train that carries the characters from place to place and she ultimately decides on when and where the characters will land at their destination. Depending on whether or not it is in their cards to continue their journey of stardom. Throughout Weisbeck’s chapbook, the reader can catch snapshots into the lives of the characters: Bonnie, Maurice, Louis, Marnie, Cassie, and Nova as circus performers, and see the subtle romance between Bonnie and Maurice unfold.

Allegory is evident in Weisbeck’s chapbook, as the idea of Grand Athena serves the purpose of shedding light on how the performers carry wisdom and endurance through the trials and tribulations of being in a circus troupe. The performers know how to capture the attention of the audience, however they themselves are caught in an on-going cycle of performing. From the literal sense of the Cage Of Death act and looking at yourself in the mirror and no longer recognizing yourself, to the idea of song canaries crooning away in their elaborate bird cage, dissociation and entrapment defines Grand Athena. The haunting of the beautiful pixies, sirens, birds, and flowers loom over this collection. When bad weather hits, the characters experience a freedom of sorts, lasting only as long as they stay bound together. After Grand Athena leaves them behind, they become more aware of their surroundings and the sometimes brutal realities that come from separation.

Madeline Weisbeck is a creative writer, filmmaker, artist, and editor from Connecticut. Her love for storytelling started young and never stopped. First getting published in her town’s local paper in middle school. She finds inspiration in visceral lyricism, period pieces, thought-provoking stories, and thrillers. She graduated from SUNY Oswego with a degree in Creative Writing and has been published numerous times for her poetry and screenplays in The Great Lake Review, Grim & Gilded, Thriller Magazine, and on Poets.org. Her last project entailed creating the miniature opera Le Voyage Dans La Lune alongside composer Moon Cove. This opera was commissioned by ChamberQUEER and Luna Composition Lab. Madeline wrote, directed, and edited the short silent film, Little Lady Of Mer to accompany the opera as an opener. Both pieces premiered in Brooklyn, NY at National Sawdust Theater in November 2025.