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Huston ponders love, life in Virgins on the Rocks
By Kristin Knipschild
Library Communications
Posted 11/24/2004
MADISON, Wis. -- In Virgin on the Rocks, the latest poetry chapbook from Parallel Press, Karla Huston gives readers a chance to ponder a wide array of topics relating to love, loss, intimacy and thoughts about life through her personal experiences and sometimes humorous stories.
The poem "The Gods Argue About Sex" tells of an argument between the goddess Hera and god Zeus which leads to a consultation with Tiresias, whom Hera blinds when he agrees with Zeus. Huston's interesting account of the events that transpired gives a modern edge to the ancient argument.
While many of Huston's poems focus on intimate experiences, a few are written from the perspective of another person or thing. "Mona Lisa Imagines" is from the perspective of Mona Lisa as she ponders Leonardo Da Vinci's odd habits and his reasons for painting her as he does.
And for those who think her poems are only about one thing, she wrote the poem, "To My Husband Who Thinks I Only Write Poems About Sex." This piece not only gives examples of the many other topics she has written about, but sympathizes with other women whose husbands didn't like their writing either.
Huston is the winner of the 2003 Main Street Rag Chapbook contest and has also earned the Wisconsin Regional Writer's Association Jade Ring for both fiction and poetry. Earning five Pushcart nominations, Huston has published poetry, interviews and reviews in various national journals including 5 A.M., Cimarron Review, Margie, North American Review, One Trick Pony, Pearl, Poet Lore, and Rattle. Another chapbook of poetry, Catch and Release, is expected to be published soon from Marsh River Editions. Huston continues to teach creative writing and contemporary literature at Neenah High School in Wisconsin and previously served as a board member of the Fox Valley Writing Project and membership chair and regional vice-president of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.
The Parallel Press is an imprint of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Virgins on the Rocks is the 34th poetry chapbook of the imprint and the last to be released in 2004. Poetry chapbooks may be purchased in groups of six for $50 or $10 each. For more information, visit http://parallelpress.library.wisc.edu/chapbooks/poetry/.
Orders may be sent to:
The Parallel Press
372 Memorial Library
728 State Street
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 262-2600
E-mail: parallelpress@library.wisc.edu.
A selection from Virgins on the Rocks called "What She'll Do for Love."
Katie, my student, says she wants
to improve her writing, do
a book report for practice
or a literary analysis for fun.
I play along, flattered she's asked,
so together we flip through books,
consider ideas, till she finally blushes,
then admits this work is for a boy
who will surely flunk otherwise.
My stomach knots around my scruples.
This is cheating, I know,
but without it, he'll fail.
And she'll fail him.
Once I loved
a boy so much I'd do anything
for him—wash his hair; clip his nails.
I wrote essays for him about Hawthorne
and Shakespeare, speeches about
putting greens and modern art.
How easy it was—
the open page, his mouth repeating.
Like Katie, I hoped he'd be the servant
to my clever tongue, need my words
so much he'd never leave.
