Mother KingdomMother Kingdom

Winner of the 2021 Slapering Hol Press Chapbook Competition, this debut collection by Andrea Deeken gives us poems of motherhood through the lens of queerness, generational trauma, and transformation. In the poem "Borscht" she writes, "So many ways/ to be a mother/even to oneself." "Deeken's gift for quiet lyricism throbs with depth and wonder, a true search for self and a fierce determination to defend her child against an uncertain global future" (Debra Gwartney). Mother Kingdom "reflects the role of "mother", not simply as the person who gives birth, but as the deep observer and nurturer of those around her...a fine balance of memoir, diary, confessional poem, and sharp observation" (Laurence Carr). Anne Elizabeth Moore calls the collection "a shimmering feat."