Distributed for CavanKerry Press
Girl Trouble
Combining extensive research into sexual violence with the author’s personal experiences as a feminist activist, Girl Trouble provides a generational perspective on healing from trauma.
“Stop trying to write something beautiful / and write something true.” Girl Trouble is an excavation of female adolescence, a brazen journey through rape culture from the ‘80s to #MeToo. Diana Whitney’s earthy poems spill secrets, make trouble, reckon with stories of desire and harm, and explore the agency and oppression of women and girls. Deeply rooted in the natural world, Girl Trouble grieves the planet’s degradation while celebrating queerness and seeking healing for the next generation. By the end of the collection, a myriad of voices builds to a full-throated roar. This is a book for survivors and advocates, for mothers and daughters, for anyone moving through trauma with resilience.
“Stop trying to write something beautiful / and write something true.” Girl Trouble is an excavation of female adolescence, a brazen journey through rape culture from the ‘80s to #MeToo. Diana Whitney’s earthy poems spill secrets, make trouble, reckon with stories of desire and harm, and explore the agency and oppression of women and girls. Deeply rooted in the natural world, Girl Trouble grieves the planet’s degradation while celebrating queerness and seeking healing for the next generation. By the end of the collection, a myriad of voices builds to a full-throated roar. This is a book for survivors and advocates, for mothers and daughters, for anyone moving through trauma with resilience.
Table of Contents
TROUBLED & TROUBLING
Watching Thelma and Louise during Lockdown with My Daughters
Girl Trouble
Penalty Box
Acorns
After School with D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Supply and Demand
My 6th Grade Self Strikes Out Jason Tournay
My 7th Grade Self Sends Nudes to Nate Griffin
Playdate
I Bring My Secret Home from Junior High
Under My Thumb
Prom After-Party Revisited
Steubenville Sestina
Centerfold
Let Me Walk You through It
CROSS ME TWICE
Hate Poem for Animal House
Pastoral with Hooters Decal
There’s No Normal Anymore, Says the Minister of Farming
Sons and Mothers
Nightshade
Take It Back
acrostic dispatch from the 90s
Phantom
Zenith
Tiny Stars
My Phone Reminds Me It’s Mercury Retrograde
Big Brothers
For Women: How to Prevent Acquaintance Rape (1988)
Haunted
Headlamp & Starshine
OPEN SECRET
Leotards
Girls Who Had Nothing
Open Secret
Girls Who Had Nothing
Attribution Error
Girls Who Had Nothing
Dominion
Survivor Song
PRAISE THE ENDING
Queen of Swords
Body Count
Hum
Constellation of Satellites
Supercollider
Charlie’s Angels
My 16-Year-Old Self Makes Out with Jaimie Rossi
My 17-Year-Old Self Gets Voted Best Body
My 18-Year-Old Self Tells Chris Warren to Wear a Condom
First World Problems
The Animals
Glitter
Praise Poem for 8th Grade Graduation
The Ever Given
Ode to Susan, X-Ray Technician
Gemini Moon
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Watching Thelma and Louise during Lockdown with My Daughters
Girl Trouble
Penalty Box
Acorns
After School with D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Supply and Demand
My 6th Grade Self Strikes Out Jason Tournay
My 7th Grade Self Sends Nudes to Nate Griffin
Playdate
I Bring My Secret Home from Junior High
Under My Thumb
Prom After-Party Revisited
Steubenville Sestina
Centerfold
Let Me Walk You through It
CROSS ME TWICE
Hate Poem for Animal House
Pastoral with Hooters Decal
There’s No Normal Anymore, Says the Minister of Farming
Sons and Mothers
Nightshade
Take It Back
acrostic dispatch from the 90s
Phantom
Zenith
Tiny Stars
My Phone Reminds Me It’s Mercury Retrograde
Big Brothers
For Women: How to Prevent Acquaintance Rape (1988)
Haunted
Headlamp & Starshine
OPEN SECRET
Leotards
Girls Who Had Nothing
Open Secret
Girls Who Had Nothing
Attribution Error
Girls Who Had Nothing
Dominion
Survivor Song
PRAISE THE ENDING
Queen of Swords
Body Count
Hum
Constellation of Satellites
Supercollider
Charlie’s Angels
My 16-Year-Old Self Makes Out with Jaimie Rossi
My 17-Year-Old Self Gets Voted Best Body
My 18-Year-Old Self Tells Chris Warren to Wear a Condom
First World Problems
The Animals
Glitter
Praise Poem for 8th Grade Graduation
The Ever Given
Ode to Susan, X-Ray Technician
Gemini Moon
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS