Julia McConnell
Poet. Librarian.
Landlocked
Winner of the 2022 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize
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Lesbian bars, libraries, highways, churches, and oil rigs set the scene for the poems in Landlocked. Whether at work or at play, the speakers in Landlocked live in the space between longing and belonging, wanderlust and homesickness, and explore the intersection of place and identity. In the era of “don’t say gay”, these poems provide a defiantly queer perspective on Oklahoma, one of the reddest of the red states, and its many contradictions.
Winner of the 2022 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize
Order Here
Lesbian bars, libraries, highways, churches, and oil rigs set the scene for the poems in Landlocked. Whether at work or at play, the speakers in Landlocked live in the space between longing and belonging, wanderlust and homesickness, and explore the intersection of place and identity. In the era of “don’t say gay”, these poems provide a defiantly queer perspective on Oklahoma, one of the reddest of the red states, and its many contradictions.
"Julia McConnell’s Landlocked teems with all the strange, violent, and glittering ephemera of America’s forgotten places. With precise language, thrilling music, and unforgettable images we are drilled into the interior of romantic and dangerous landscapes. In these poems, the reader rides shot-gun while our guide narrates her singular dream—a dream in which illness, Elizabeth Bishop, J.C. Penney’s catalogs, diner breakfast, and gay bars weave seamlessly along the highway shoulder. I can’t remember reading a debut so complex and self-assured. Landlocked proclaims the arrival of a major talent."
--Lisa Wells, Author of The Fix
--Lisa Wells, Author of The Fix