Horns

Winner of the Two Sylvias Press Wilder Poetry Book Prize.

Tiffany Midge's Horns is a comedic romp and a razor-edged burlesque, with seriousness in its bones. Midge's cast of characters, drawn from pop culture, history, and literature in equal measure, is epic, from the Maiden on the Land O'Lakes Butter Box to Martha Stewart to Corpse Bride, the Girl Scouts of America to Satan himself. Her structures are as abundant as her performers. There are lists, outlines, contemporary ghazals and sonnets, interviews, statistical round-ups, and marriage vows. There's nuance, too, and spot-on moments of lyricism: "Her dresses, hung in the closet like sides of beef," she writes in one poem. And at the end of "Matrimonial Vows for Cannibals:" "I will savor your brain for last, that soft, sweet rind, / your edible, desirable, loveable mind." True to its title, Horns is sharp, dangerous, and melodic, a collection that resonates with joyous critique.

-Diane Seuss, author of frank: sonnets