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Erin Geil
Author
Podunk Moon
Erin Geil, author
Podunk Moon is an anthology of mostly non-fiction poetry starting in 2016 and time traveling back through the years ending in 2003. A time capsule of heartache, depression, and the overall state of confusion that comes with being in your twenties. An excerpt of the suspense thriller novel, The Great American, follows after, leaving the reader with a taste of something that is altogether a darkly different breed of beast.
Reviews
Murray Pura--Author

OVERVIEW
You read Erin Geil and it reminds you why you like to read and, if you are an author, why you like to write. Her poems and prose are absolutely accessible, they are smooth, and lean, and honed, and they go inside so swiftly and easily they become addictive, and you want to read 12, 15, 20 poems or pages at a time, and then go back, and savor her language, and her depth, and read them all over again. And you think you have conquered them and that you own them, but you haven't, for she is a wizard of her craft, and has the gift of the swift twist ending, endings that may be a soft kill or a hard kill, and once they are inside you, you are the conquered, you are the owned. For inside, they work on you and become part of your sinew and mind flows and future. Six or seven times I finished a poem and said, "No, but I wrote this, not Erin." That is how real her words were to me, and authentic to my experience, how tight their grip had become, how quickly they had entwined themselves within my flesh and spirit.

HER WRITING
She writes like a European and if you want to know what that looks like think Paris and Roma and Barcelona (but not Berlin) and think cafes and coffees at sidewalk tables with canopies with logos, and also think wine and chocolate and a certain amount of old world elegance interwound around the hard colors of new world brazenness. She especially writes like a Russian, so think Nabokov and Dostoevsky and Yevtushenko and Pasternak and think finesse and intricacy and details that are not lost or glossed over, think smoky eyes and smoky fires and moving blood. Think exotic. Think darkness and cold and flames and heat curling up out of blackness. Think Zhivago at midnight sitting down by the winter windows with sheets of paper like snow or bone, writing excitedly but calmly like snowflakes falling straight down, everything in its place. But also think the roar and flare and glass-smashing and wild dances of the gypsy and the Cossack. It doesn't matter if Erin has read Pasternak or Nabokov or, to bring in the 20th century and the non-Russians, Dylan Thomas or Ernest Hemingway or Faulkner or Stein or Ferlinghetti, they are all in her because her soul is, yes, an older soul.

POETRY IN MOTION
Erin is a warm and rich and intuitive human being, a lover who writes about a thousand loves - men with blue eyes and dark eyes, mothers and fathers and aunts and grandmothers, Gods and demons and angels she wrestles with all night (so you do too) - loves that scald or blind or bring peace or wreak havoc on the heart - she feels it all and makes you feel it all too - she takes you on all her life journeys and her skill is such they are definitely yours as well, not necessarily because of shared experiences, but because their honesty is so raw and real you become her.

The poem "Podunk" is like Carl Sandburg, but an Erin Carl Sandburg who takes you to places the original Carl could never go. She writes of herself in "Transient": "Stowed way, illegally placed, with no ticket in my hand, no ticket in my pocket, nothing but a fistful of stitches within my grasp." "In the Beginning" tells us about a barn - "If the wooden planks of the buildings had stories to tell, there was no one, who gathered around to listen, their tales of splintered heartaches went untold, and soon, inch by inch, were forgotten." Of an old well in "The Well" that she talks to - "And I whispered my day through the cracks of the stone. Cold against my still velvet youthful cheeks, and never once did you speak but I knew that you heard me." In "What Dead Means" - ""You know what dead means, Mikey?" I shook my head. "It means in the ground." He sat down, and grabbed dirt, making a fist around it." In "I Go Barefoot" - "I go barefoot and trespass on ground not mine. I let my feet feel free because my head and heart cannot have freedom." In "Hear the Train" which I must quote in its entirety: "I hear the train its whistle sounding off into the distance of a black night. It comforts me to know that there is still a past somewhere driving wheel by wheel that I can hear. Pennies flattened on the tracks placed by children's hands." And her love depth in "Limbo of Us" - "The way his fingers moved into my hand, marking me, but not with his scent, or his body, but with his spirit. A spiritual marking. Waiting for words to quiet the stirring of the shadows that pass through the north of me, to the east of that center the south of my wandering and into the west of thoughts. Waiting for words, limbo of us." Erin Geil doesn't know how to write a bad poem.

Or bad prose. For "The Great American" slowly and inexorably and sweetly and harshly draws you word by word by word into an existence you don't know but then find you do and did and will.

THE WRAP
I cannot recommend Erin's work and her art highly enough. Treat yourself to this book. Buy the ticket, take the journey, feel the movement of life inside your deepest places. I might subtitle her work: "Yearn", or "Death and Resurrection and Death Again", or "Twisted into a Shape like Human". Her writing matters and it elevates the quest for love and humanity to a very high degree. You will be grateful for her honesty and all the avenues of her mind and heart that take you to the inner cites and forests of meaningful existence.

The Gettysburgian (Gettysburg College Newspaper)

By Katherine Lentz, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Erin Geil’s ‘Podunk Moon’ is simultaneously a punch in the gut, and a delight to experience. A poetry anthology is not typically the first thing I would reach for on a bookshelf, but this collection, complete with a snippet from Geil’s first full length novel, ‘The Great American,’ managed to thoroughly entertain me.

While the subject matter of some of the poems is not laden with sadness, regret, anger or wistfulness, the same cannot be said for most. Geil is able to evoke emotion poignantly with her diction, and even in the way she divides the verse, but the most powerful tool she utilizes is honesty. The poems, each and every one, seem genuine and personal; many very obviously aimed at specific individuals, while still being vague enough to evoke empathy in the reader. Although the works at the end of the anthology came with a disclaimer – “the words of an inexperienced ingénue” – they were still just as impactful as those at the beginning, albeit in a different way.

Geil’s skill clearly increased as she became more experienced, and this is evidenced by the increasing subtlety in her works. Those written most recently utilize far more symbolism, and a lot less blatant emotion. They come off as precise and well-crafted, while Geil’s earlier works come off as far more intense. However, as I previously noted, the earlier works’ more passionate and overt displays of emotion were very interesting to read, because they were so open with what they were trying to say.

Almost all of the poems in the anthology were of interest, but some in particular stood out from the rest. While poems like ‘Honey Snake’ and ‘Podunk Moon’ were rightfully meant to be the headliners of the collection, I still found the poem ‘Favorite Moment’ particularly impactful. ‘Favorite Moment’ detailed a conversation with a mother, wherein the speaker discovers that the day of her birth did not even rank on the mother’s list of favorite moments. The mother coolly declares that being a mother is not as great as many would make it seem. The poignancy of the emotion throughout the entirety of the poem is enough to keep the reader not only interested, but deeply empathetic to the situation. Family and relationships are a recurring theme through many of the pieces in the book, sometimes spoken of with appreciation and love, and other times with a deep sense of regret, sadness or even anger.

Another poem of particular interest is ‘Reptile Theory,’ which describes a situation where the speaker is talking to a woman who refers to men, particularly politicians and other figures of influence, as reptiles. The speaker’s first instinct is to tune the woman out, because after all “why can’t men just be men?” But at the end of the poem the speaker acknowledges, with some reticence, that the woman might be right. That is, that all those men on TV cannot be taken at face value – they are not human, they are reptiles. This poem is interesting because it is one of the few in the anthology that break away from the subject of personal relationships or feelings, to discuss instead the world at large.

Overall, ‘Podunk Moon’ is a satisfying read, filled with expressive and well-written poetry. However, the major appeal of this book comes from the way it was formatted; the reverse chronological order allows the reader to see how an experienced writer began as an intense and open inexperienced writer. Seeing the transformation was as fascinating as the poems themselves.

The Lantern (Ohio State University Newspaper)

Podunk Moon: An Anthology is a book of poetry by Morgantown, West Virginia native Erin Geil. Written over the course of 14 years, the range of subjects spans all over, from the death of a father, to broken relationships and all of the traumatic events experienced during her life in a “podunk” town in West Virginia.

Geil’s voice is very consistent throughout her poetry. There are some poems, like “Someone,” “Hot And Bothered Table For One?”, and “Wanting More,” which have an overt familiarity to their tone; they are the most direct poems you will find in Podunk Moon.

However, even in her most indirect poems, “Calico,” and “Once It Was Me” for example, there is still an undeniable sincerity in her writing. Whether the poem reads as a transparent rush of feeling, or as the feeling of moment frozen in writing. Geil pens them both with equal comfort and a confidence that comes across in her short, carefully punctuated lines and precise word choices.

There’s a deliberative rhythm to her work that endows each word with a little more gravity, and it persists even when the subject matter appears trite.

Geil’s writing is notably powerful when she is treating subjects larger than a single personal experience of hers in her poems. Some favorites of mine that address these types of topics are “Over An Ending,” “Nefarious X,” “No One Saves Us,” “Paying For Fame,” “Reptile Theory,” and “White Powder Smile.”

The diction and staccato pace of her poetry remains the same in these, but the way Geil can communicate an impression of an entire person’s life or the marginalization of a demographic is the most impressive part of these poems. It is what makes them an enjoyable read.

Much of Geil’s poetry in Podunk Moon deals with damaged relationships and their aftermath. These poems are very personal, and the openness Geil uses to express her thoughts and feelings towards past relationships is, at times, amazing.

In many of them it feels like you can almost hear the words being spoken because the poetry is so genuinely written. You can feel the resignation and the desire in “More Than Willing,” as well as the morose nostalgia of “The Leftovers Of Something Great.”

The most enjoyable poems in Podunk Moon are those which best capture the emotion of a specific moment. Thankfully, Geil provides plenty of these.

“Running Bricks,” “Tire in the Sky,” “A Country Bargain,” “Older Girl,” “Birds Danced On The Autumn,” “In A Crowd,” “There’s Nothing Left” and many more poems, scattered throughout the book, are some of Geil’s best work.

There is something of a trend among them where Geil skillfully swaps the effects of spatial and temporal changes to induce estrangement.

At the end of the poetry section of the book, Geil includes an excerpt of her upcoming thriller novel The Great American. After reading Geil’s poetry, her prose is refreshing. It gives new perspective to many of the events and topics that appeared in her poetry, but it is written with a much more casual tone.

It reads quickly and is full of dialogue and detail surrounding characters’ interactions. The chapters are short and the novel keeps the story moving at a very quick pace. The Great American has many of the same themes as Geil’s poetry does, including the macabre, vulgarity, and sex, but it engages them in a full narrative that hopefully comes to unite and connect them by the conclusion of the novel.

The Trumpet Online (West Liberty University Newspaper)

By Gabrielle Blanchard, Assistant Editor

As a fan of sci-fi, time travel, and romance, I was excited to read Erin Geil’s Podunk Moon: An Anthology. In this book, Geil weaves together a non-fiction poetry anthology that spans from 2003 to 2016 (though, the stories are told in reverse) and is followed by an excerpt from one of Geil’s other stories, The Great American.

But the focus here is meant to be on Podunk Moon.

The summary of Podunk Moon reads as such:

Podunk Moon is an anthology of mostly non-fiction poetry starting in 2016 and time traveling back through the years ending in 2003. A time capsule of heartache, depression, and the overall state of confusion that comes with being in your twenties. An excerpt of the suspense thriller novel, The Great American, follows after, leaving the reader with a taste of something that is altogether a darkly different breed of beast.

The collection of 100+ poems is well-organized and thought-provoking, with Geil possessing the ability to invoke a wide range of emotions in the reader. Her words are raw and deeply personal, and it begins right at her Acknowledgements page. Right from the beginning, we are allowed a glimpse into Geil’s life, as well as who and hints as to what inspired this anthology of poetry.

Briefly, we learn about some of the most important people in her life who deeply and heavily influenced her writing. Right from the start, there’s something charming and endearing about Geil’s writing, which can lead to reader wanting to know more about the author and who she is from the glimpses she allows us to have.

Getting to the poetry itself, Geil allows us a deep and honest glimpse into a time that spans her life from ages 20-34. For most of us, those are very definitive and formative years, perhaps even more than teenage years. Those are the years where we learn to navigate from teenage years into young adulthood and all the life changes that happen in-between.

Geil opens herself to the readers with topics that range from failed relationships – including a boyfriend who is briefly mentioned in her Acknowledgements – to mental illness, to sex, to struggling with self-image and worth, and hints of religion. And, it works.

Due to this honest and exposed nature, the stories can, and do, occasionally run on the darker side. And while there are brighter poems included as well, these darker ones stand out the most. The emotions are powerful as Geil uses her talent for word choice to paint pictures with every emotionally-driven poem that she writes. Every word, every line, comes from her heart and it shows.

There is power in the darkness Geil has chosen to shed a light upon. While her poems come from the heart and are drawn from her personal experiences, they’re accessible and relatable to those who read them.

Choosing to tell the stories ‘backwards’ was an interesting and different, but smart, choice of the author. It’s not a regression, per se, but the poems begin to take on a different tone as we travel further backwards in time. The author is wilder, maybe freer in some ways, than the person we meet at the ‘beginning’ of the journey. As readers, we move into the past and this method of storytelling just makes sense here.

It is a glimpse at how much some individual changes over time, how much being in your twenties shapes you as a person but leaves the reader with an idea of who the writer was before she began her journey. We slowly learn what made “The Honey Snake” come from “Only a Face.”

Geil is very gifted when it comes to her word choice and phrasing. While some poems aren’t quite as strong as others – a given, considering the sheer amount of them here – where Geil shines, she shines brightly, and all her stories are raw, exposed, and sometimes painfully honest. Even a few of the poems that aren’t quite as strong as the others manage to tug at the reader’s emotions.

Geil is not afraid to put all her raw, unfiltered, unabashed emotions on the page and ‘her’ story is often universal. The situations may not be precisely identical, but the emotions are easily felt and understood.

For those who love poetry, Podunk Moon is worth the time it takes to read, as is the excerpt of The Great American that follows. Podunk Moon is a true anthology that takes time for a reader to make their way through, especially if they want to fully engage and immerse themselves in the story Geil has laid out for them, but the payoff is immense.

Even those who may think they’re not fans of poetry may find her words and experiences something that stirs something within them, with Geil touching on some very universal experiences.

It’s dark and messy, but it’s real.

I highly encouraging giving Podunk Moon a chance. Perhaps it will stir up old emotions or help to feel less alone in dealing with current ones, but Geil’s words are likely to invoke some sort of reaction within the reader.

Writer’s Note: In exchange for an honest review, I received a complimentary copy of this book.

The University Daily Kansan (The University of Kansas Newspaper)

 

Combining poetry and prose, the whimsical and the macabre, Erin Geil’s “Podunk Moon” paints a compelling picture of the trials of young adulthood. The beginning of the anthology contains free verse poetry spanning the years between 2003 and 2016, which is followed by an excerpt of Geil’s upcoming novel, “The Great American.”

I had the opportunity to ask Geil a few questions about her work, specifically the sources of inspiration for her writing.

“Sometimes I feel some of the writing is coming from someone else entirely, a bit like automatic writing. Prophetic at times even,” Geil said. “A lot of what I do write does come from a minute crumb of truth from my own life. ‘The Great American’ started out of a desire to flesh out the one part of a favorite book that I felt it lacked and also to preserve the feeling I had for someone in high school.”

The free verse component, “Podunk Moon,” is arranged in an intriguing manner; the poems travel back in time, printed from most recent to oldest. This demonstrates Geil’s growth as a poet uniquely — by deconstructing her style rather than building it up.  

Featured pieces tackle a variety of topics, both serious and mundane. Poems about death and sex are interspersed with others about childhood and everyday activities. One poem, titled “For the Letter ‘W,’” even cleverly only uses words beginning with “w.”

This section of the book is beautifully written — Geil’s writing is poetic in more than a strictly literal sense. She manages to instill a sense of darkness in many of the poems that feels genuine and unsettling rather than feignedly “edgy.” Geil’s work is almost reminiscent of Ellen Hopkins, whose books I have enjoyed greatly.

In my experience, free verse collections tend to either be digestible in a single sitting or difficult to finish; “Podunk Moon,” luckily falls into the former category. Though certain poems were stronger than others, the entire collection was more than palatable. There are several pieces I plan to revisit and share with others in the future.

The second section of the anthology is encompassed by the first 27 chapters of “The Great American,” a suspense novel still in the editing stage. Described as a “suspenseful thriller,” this story retains the darkness of Geil’s poetry in completely different packaging.

In one storyline, distinguished quarterback Eddie “Horse” Kerek seduces a young girl named Evelyn Miller at a bar called The Trap House. The electricity between the two college students is palpable and scintillating. However, it becomes clear that both have dark secrets which render them cautious around each other.

Elsewhere (perhaps at a different time), a man named John walks into Julian’s Diner, a location which he frequents. After brushing off the advances of his waitress, John seems paralyzed to see his high school crush, Amber Rose. In fact, according to John, he doesn’t “see spirits,” implying that he believes her to be dead.

Unlike Geil’s free verse, “The Great American” is written in traditional crime-novel style, similar to James Patterson (who she cites as an inspiration). The published chapters do not have a heavily driven plot line, instead seeming to set the scene for later events. Nonetheless, the relationships between the characters are well-developed, and the elements of mystery and passion surrounding them makes putting the book down difficult.

Geil’s writing will be well-received by anyone who is unafraid to embrace the clandestine and enjoys a touch of enigma. Both “Podunk Moon” and “The Great American” are well-written, compelling works of literature, and this can be heavily attributed to her writing styles and mastery of language.

Regarding her writing process, Geil emphasizes spontaneity.

“I kind of just like to let the story take me where it’s going to take me and not try to force anything to come to mind,” Geil said. “I’d rather have it come to me as though I’m an audience member watching a magician’s performance, suddenly the rabbit is somehow just there under my seat and I love the shock of it. I don’t necessarily want to know how the magician pulled the trick off.”

Geil has been writing, in some form, since she was a child. As someone who began young, she encourages those who love writing to pursue it without inhibition.

“Trust what you know you want out of this life. Don’t let anyone talk you out of it, even when it’s yourself," Geil said. "Which I know is hard not to do."

Presently, there is no official publication date for “The Great American.” Until it publishes, you can access “Podunk Moon” on Amazon in paperback form or via Kindle/Kindle Unlimited. Geil will be making the Kindle edition free today, June 19, for Kansan readers to enjoy.

 

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