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Description
What might a word lose – or gain – without its prefix?
Each prose poem in Whelmed features a word that has been unhinged from its prefix, allowing new meanings – radically unfamiliar, yet uncannily intimate – to emerge from these prefixless word deposits. Part prose-poem sequence and part encyclopedia of unpredictably irregular terms, Whelmed is at times deranging,almost disturbing, sometimes detached, and always joyfully rupting.
'Addictionary of words lopped off from their prefixial syllables, this lightful pendium mises hours of giggles and a joyful sire to copy ad finitum! So much pleasure! So much verbal legerdemain. So spiring! Can’t stop/won’t stop reading, jotting, sharing. Constraint at its most unconstrained.'
- Maria Damon
‘With Whelmed, theWoman in the Shoe (who has too much to do) and the stoned, fixed priestesses of Apollo invoke the order of an alphabet of prefixes. Enjoy the maze – take with you two string balls, one of truth and one of belief. Her mastery of language makes poetry free.’
– Maxine Gadd
About the Author
Nicole Markotić
Nicole Markotic is a novelist, critic, and poet who teaches Children's Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor. She has widely published in Canada, the USA, Australia, and Europe; her books include the novel Scrapbook of My Years as a Zealot (Arsenal Pulp Press), the YA novel Rough Patch) (Arsenal Pulp Press, and the poetry collection Whelmed(Coach House). She works as a fiction and poetry editor and publishes a chapbook series under Wrinkle Press (Nikki Reimer, Robert Kroetsch, and poet laureate Fred Wah).
Contributor Notes
Nicole Markotic is a poet, novelist, and critic. Her poetry books include Bent at the Spine (BookThug), Minotaurs & Other Alphabets, and Connect the Dots (Wolsak & Wynn); her novels are Yellow Pages (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) and Scrapbook of My Years as a Zealot (Arsenal Pulp Press).
