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Queen of the Platform
Queen of the Platform ($15, ISBN: 978-1-937536-54-1, LCCN: 2013956258, 84pp, 6X9″): These poems are based on the life of Laura Madeline Wiseman’s great-great-great-grandmother, the nineteenth century lecturer, suffragist, and poet, Matilda Fletcher Wiseman (1842-1909) and the men in her life: her brother, George W. Felts (1843-1921), a civil war solider who was later charged with murder, her first husband, John A. Fletcher (1837-1875), a school teacher and a lawyer, and her second husband, William Albert Wiseman (1850-1911), a minister who became her agent. Like her seven brothers who served in the Civil War, Matilda chose the public sphere. After the death of her only child, Matilda joined the lecture circuit. She spoke to support herself and her first husband, until his death. On the stage she spoke among other lecturers of her time, such as Susan B. Anthony.
Laura Madeline Wiseman: A Lecturer at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, with a PhD in English, and numerous publications in poetry (Unclose the Door, Sprung, and Farm Hands), women’s studies (Women Write Resistance: Poets Resis Gender Violence), and other areas. She has also won several awards including the Academy of American Poets Award, the Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship, and many others.
In a time when the struggles and hard-won achievements of our foremothers are in danger of being rolled back or forgotten, Laura Madeline Wiseman turns our attention to a literary and familial ancestor who, after her only child’s death, waved “Goodbye/to motherhood, to one kind of life” and “bowed in welcome to another.” Wiseman blends archival research and imagination, vividly capturing intimate exchanges that resonate historically… Queen of the Platform is a timely and terrific read. —Jane Satterfield, author of Her Familiars
A collection of experimental forms—a telegraph poem, a poem with an algebraic equation as its refrain, and erasures of historical documents—intermingling with traditional forms (such as a fairy tale ghazal), these poems spin history with an imagination attune to the intrigue behind fact. Queen of the Platform will pull you into the political landscape of the turn of the twentieth century as though history tapped you on the shoulder with its glove. —Tyler Mills, author of Tongue Lyre
Laura Madeline Wiseman’s Queen of the Platform is not only full of the energy of immediacy, but also deep meditation on the material traces of her ancestry. Sometimes exacting, sometimes provocative, but always bold—Wiseman’s poetry sharply observes the fabric of her characters’ lives. —Margo Taft Stever, author of Frozen Spring
Laura Madeline Wiseman: A Lecturer at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, with a PhD in English, and numerous publications in poetry (Unclose the Door, Sprung, and Farm Hands), women’s studies (Women Write Resistance: Poets Resis Gender Violence), and other areas. She has also won several awards including the Academy of American Poets Award, the Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship, and many others.
In a time when the struggles and hard-won achievements of our foremothers are in danger of being rolled back or forgotten, Laura Madeline Wiseman turns our attention to a literary and familial ancestor who, after her only child’s death, waved “Goodbye/to motherhood, to one kind of life” and “bowed in welcome to another.” Wiseman blends archival research and imagination, vividly capturing intimate exchanges that resonate historically… Queen of the Platform is a timely and terrific read. —Jane Satterfield, author of Her Familiars
A collection of experimental forms—a telegraph poem, a poem with an algebraic equation as its refrain, and erasures of historical documents—intermingling with traditional forms (such as a fairy tale ghazal), these poems spin history with an imagination attune to the intrigue behind fact. Queen of the Platform will pull you into the political landscape of the turn of the twentieth century as though history tapped you on the shoulder with its glove. —Tyler Mills, author of Tongue Lyre
Laura Madeline Wiseman’s Queen of the Platform is not only full of the energy of immediacy, but also deep meditation on the material traces of her ancestry. Sometimes exacting, sometimes provocative, but always bold—Wiseman’s poetry sharply observes the fabric of her characters’ lives. —Margo Taft Stever, author of Frozen Spring
84 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2013
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About the author
Laura Madeline Wiseman
52 books152 followersLaura Madeline Wiseman's latest books are Velocipede, published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press and Through A Certain Forest published by BlazeVOX [books]. Her collaboratively written chapbook with Andrea Blythe, Every Girl Becomes the Wolf is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.
She is also the author of the full length collections of poetry An Apparently Impossible Adventure (BlazeVOX [books], 2016), Drink (BlazeVOX [books], 2015), Wake (Aldrich Press, 2015), Some Fatal Effects of Curiosity and Disobedience (Lavender Ink, 2014), American Galactic (Martian Lit, 2014), Queen of the Platform (Anaphora Literary Press, 2013) and Sprung (San Francisco Bay Press, 2012).
Her collaborative books are People Like Cats with Chuka Susan Chesney, (Red Dashboard, LCC in 2016), Leaves of Absence with artist Sally Deskins (Red Dashboard, LCC, 2016), The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters with artist Lauren Rinaldi (Les Femmes Folles, 2015, and Intimates and Fools (Les Femmes Folles, 2014) with artist Sally Deskins.
Her flash novel is The Bottle Opener (Red Dashboard, LCC 2014).
Her letterpress books are Unclose The Door (Gold Quoin Press, 2012) and Farm Hands (Gold Quoin Press, 2012).
Her chapbooks are Threnody (Porkbelly Press, 2014), Spindrift (Dancing Girl Press, 2014), Stranger Still (Finishing Line Press, 2013, First Wife (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013), Men and Their Whims (Writing Knights Press, 2013), She Who Loves Her Father (Dancing Girl Press, 2012), Branding Girls (Finishing Line Press, 2011), Ghost Girl (Pudding House, 2010), and My Imaginary (Dancing Girl Press, 2010). Her early DIY chapbooks include Plastic Matches (2002).
She is also the editor of Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts (Les Femmes Folles Books, 2017) and Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013).
Her work has appeared in Margie, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, Feminist Studies, Mid-American Review, Blackbird, 13th Moon, Cream City Review, Poet Lore and elsewhere. Awards and grants include the Academy of American Poets Award and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation grant. Currently, she teaches writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
She is also the author of the full length collections of poetry An Apparently Impossible Adventure (BlazeVOX [books], 2016), Drink (BlazeVOX [books], 2015), Wake (Aldrich Press, 2015), Some Fatal Effects of Curiosity and Disobedience (Lavender Ink, 2014), American Galactic (Martian Lit, 2014), Queen of the Platform (Anaphora Literary Press, 2013) and Sprung (San Francisco Bay Press, 2012).
Her collaborative books are People Like Cats with Chuka Susan Chesney, (Red Dashboard, LCC in 2016), Leaves of Absence with artist Sally Deskins (Red Dashboard, LCC, 2016), The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters with artist Lauren Rinaldi (Les Femmes Folles, 2015, and Intimates and Fools (Les Femmes Folles, 2014) with artist Sally Deskins.
Her flash novel is The Bottle Opener (Red Dashboard, LCC 2014).
Her letterpress books are Unclose The Door (Gold Quoin Press, 2012) and Farm Hands (Gold Quoin Press, 2012).
Her chapbooks are Threnody (Porkbelly Press, 2014), Spindrift (Dancing Girl Press, 2014), Stranger Still (Finishing Line Press, 2013, First Wife (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013), Men and Their Whims (Writing Knights Press, 2013), She Who Loves Her Father (Dancing Girl Press, 2012), Branding Girls (Finishing Line Press, 2011), Ghost Girl (Pudding House, 2010), and My Imaginary (Dancing Girl Press, 2010). Her early DIY chapbooks include Plastic Matches (2002).
She is also the editor of Bared: Contemporary Poetry and Art on Bras and Breasts (Les Femmes Folles Books, 2017) and Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2013).
Her work has appeared in Margie, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, Feminist Studies, Mid-American Review, Blackbird, 13th Moon, Cream City Review, Poet Lore and elsewhere. Awards and grants include the Academy of American Poets Award and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation grant. Currently, she teaches writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 20, 2014
Queen of the Platform is a wonderful book that writes an important woman suffragist back into history by following her experiences on the road lecturing while supporting her dying husband. The book paints a vivid picture of what is was like for Matilda Fletcher during her travels in the late 19th century.
January 17, 2015
I liked this book so much, I reviewed it! Check out the review on The Volta Blog: https://thevoltablog.wordpress.com/ca...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews