Description
“And I was taught not to use certain words in poems / but sometimes I act undisciplined to feel better” Amber states in the opening poem of Peppermint. Through cutting matter-of-fact language, Peppermint is a reel of personal lore: a childhood on a farm in Missouri, sights of San Marcos squirrels, queer kisses between games of Magic the Gathering, all interspersed with abstract recipes like a “Recipe for Finding a Body.” Peppermint sits with both the terrors and beauty of queer life—loving despite traumatic childhood memories, depression, and a tyrannical transphobic state.
Peppermint quite literally has cooling properties, bringing a refreshing approach to poetry. Isaac winks at the reader, asking questions like, “If I mention poppers will this poem exclude you?” She brings a levity to her poetry, a minty fresh approach that cuts through the heaviness with necessary humor.
Peppermint is for the queers raised on farms. Peppermint is for horror movie lovers. Peppermint is for tgirls who stole bras in their youth. Peppermint is for anyone who has fallen in love with the Coca Cola bottles a lover leaves behind on the nightstand. Amber invites us to sit with the anger and sadness that comes with living under capitalism and false hope, stating “They lied when they said anything is or was possible, / but we tell stories to children / so they know what to do in their final moments.” Despite all the depressing conditions, Peppermint still urges outsiders to stand strong in their resistance: “Maybe this is the apocalypse talking, but / I know what is important, and it is not them, / it is the damned like us.”
References include but are not limited to: In Cold Blood, Alien, Goodfellas, poppers, kayfabe, Magic the Gathering, Prince, Goya, Steve McQueen, Taylor Swift t-shirts, Avril Lavigne, and Gregg Araki.
If you like the work of Hera Lindsey Bird, Dorothea Lasky, and Kim Addonizio, we believe you’ll love Peppermint.
While you wait for Peppermint to come out, listen to The Official Peppermint Playlist!
Peppermint officially launches on August 14th! Join us at Alienated Majesty in Austin, TX for a reading, Q&A, and book signing with Amber Isaac.
“You will never again wonder what the stench of loneliness tastes like for a queer child searching for themselves in a desert disguised as quaint, country life— slow and steady, loyal, and most brutally: deep, unforgiving roots. Yet, like a desert rose, Amber’s poems defy the climate’s beasts, its cruelty, and lingers on the tongue, an aged lozenge for sore throats. After ingesting her words, Peppermint leaves us with a simple truth: one must taste life to understand its wilderness, take it fully into our mouths, let it permeate the tongue, then, and only then we might understand the contents of her pockets, “the strip-down of an acorn,” the little girl who puts her whole beak into her mother’s throat, “works to steady itself before launching,” so she might one day feel the freedom of flight.” –Natalie Byers, author of The Great and Terrible and The Farmers Wives
“In Amber Isaac’s debut collection, ordinary moments at the Circle K and encounters with snails become sacred spaces for exploring the complexities of identity, performative gender, and queer desire. Pop culture allusions illuminate the complexities of human connection as the narrator’s “personal lore” unfolds. Amber’s voice is sincere and honest with heaps of irreverence; the best combination in a poet.” –Melanie Robinson, author of Titrate (forthcoming from Plancha Press)
“Amber Isaac’s poetry makes us laugh then immediately breaks our hearts, and what could be more cathartic? The poems of Peppermint are slyly intense, reminding us of all the tiny apocalypses that take center stage in our lives—in parking lots and cemeteries and mother’s living room—even “when no one else was looking.” –Sara Burge, author of Apocalypse Ranch
