How does one build an identity? It’s an ongoing venture of discerning and refining, discarding narratives as much as creating them. For a poet, especially one who writes autobiographically, that work involves filtering through experiences and memory, presenting and processing meaningful moments to build the story of self on the page, as well as in life.
With her sixth book of poetry, Blood Wolf Moon, Osage poet Elise Paschen does just that with an arresting collection that reflects on her childhood as the daughter of renowned prima ballerina Maria Tallchief, her Osage heritage, and the work of processing multiple generations of trauma, including her personal experience with assault.