ELIZABETH VIGNALI
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Vignali is the author of the poetry collection House of the Silverfish (Unsolicited Press 2021) and three chapbooks, the most recent of which is Endangered [Animal] (Floating Bridge Press 2019). Her work has appeared in Willow Springs, Cincinnati Review, Poetry Northwest, Mid-American Review, Tinderbox, The Literary Review, and others. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she works as an optician, produces the Bellingham Kitchen Session reading series, and serves as poetry editor of Sweet Tree Review.
HOUSE OF THE SILVERFISH
February 2021
HOUSE OF THE SILVERFISH explores the reckoning of inevitable loss on both a personal and global scale, from learning to loosen our hold on children as they grow older to coming to terms with our annihilation of vast swathes of species. The story of an unraveling marriage is interspersed with poems questioning ownership of all kinds—of place, of people, and of time itself.
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ENDANGERED [ANIMAL]
October 2019
Endangered [Animal] by Elizabeth Vignali gives us beauty and captivity, survival and extinction. We are asked to pay attention to “that inconvenient / time of vulnerability between nest and flight.” It is there—between home and sky, between childhood and adulthood—Vignali’s poetry soars. Vignali leads us through relationships and the natural world. She projects our humanity against the wild and asks “why some lives are considered worth saving.” And even though she warns of the danger in believing “those who are easy to love are worth the loving,” these poems are easy to love, hard to forget, and just the right amount of dangerous to make our heartbeat quicken.
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YOUR BODY A BULLET
November 2018
From the slick burrow of the snubnosed eel to the human autosite brushing her sister’s teeth, Your Body a Bullet lifts the veil between the ghastly and beautiful relationships of parasites and their hosts. All are given equal measure here, inviting us to face our own extremes and urging us to think about what really drives our behavior. A spider says “I have no questions/about God, just the irrefutable alchemy/of your infant apothecaries.” The female anglerfish “can no longer discern where my body ends/and yours begins.” Where is the line between instinct and decision? What are we willing to do to one another; what are we willing to sacrifice? These poems are an homage to the brutality of survival, the nuances of love, and the exceptional lengths mothers will go to for their children.
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Poetry is more important than manners.
Upcoming Events
Tue, Apr 15Bellingham Alternative LibraryApr 15, 2025, 7:00 PMBellingham Alternative Library, 519 E Maple St, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
Sat, Mar 30Oregon Convention CenterMar 30, 2019, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AMOregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97232, USA
Fri, Mar 29Bad Habit RoomMar 29, 2019, 6:00 PMBad Habit Room, 5433 N Michigan Ave, Portland, OR 97217, USAMar 29, 2019, 6:00 PMBad Habit Room, 5433 N Michigan Ave, Portland, OR 97217, USAAWP Offsite Dinner Party Reading Event. Come gasp, laugh, cry or cringe at poems, flash fiction and stories read by Menacing Hedge Contributors. Catering supplied by Menacing Hedge (including vegetarian and vegan options) with an open cash bar in a private venue. All are welcome.