Description
What does 'crazy' really mean? MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PIXIE DREAM GIRL is an off-beat collection of stories, essays, and poems inspired by the author's own journeys in and out of love, sanity, and everything in between. This book takes the trope of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl—quirky-yet-troubled love interest of countless Sad Boy protagonists—and turns it inside out, breathing life into a formerly tired and empty plot device. The result is a harsh examination of media representation's effects on the way society handles mental illness and gender-based violence. With equal parts humor, sincerity, and blistering social commentary, this book will change your perspective on womanhood, the American mental health system, and, ultimately, what it means to be well-adjusted to a sick society.
"In this incredible collection, Katya Zinn unwinds like an old cassette tape and
constructs ball gowns from the mess of ribbon on the oor. An ode to the
importance of sadness, this book serves as a necessary script decoding the
dierences between honesty and truth. roughout these poems, Zinn is the
teacher we didn't know we needed and also the mirrored surface we didn't know
we had." —Ilyus Evander, author of Heavier than Wait
“We need this book. Thank you, Katya, for the reminder of the importance of
choosing to be alive for ourselves and ourselves alone.” —Maya Williams, Portland, Maine poet laureate
Poetry. Hybrid. LGBTQ+ Studies. Women's Studies.
Author Bio
Katya Zinn is a performance poet, educator, and activist currently based in Boston. Their first chapbook-length collection, Human verses, was released in 2020 and is currently available from Finishing Line Press. They graduated summa cum laude from Lesley University in 2019 with a Bachelor's of Science in Expressive Art Therapy, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to teach English and spoken word poetry on the island of Borneo. Currently, they teach art classes to children ages 5-12 at a community nonprofit, where they are spearheading a project to provide equitable access to the arts for children with disabilities receiving federal financial aid. Katya's greatest artistic inspiration comes from her students, as she believes art in its purest form exists in the minds of children who still believe in magic. MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PIXIE DREAM GIRL is her first full-length collection.
Author City: BOSTON, MA USA