Description
Poetry. Women's Studies. Photography. "WHAT PAIN DOES, a collaboration between poet Megan Henson and her photographer husband J. Michael Skaggs, begins in the pain management clinic with the collective pronoun, 'we.' There is a generosity throughout this book. Its intimate portrayal of one woman's struggle to live and write herself toward a wholeness that integrates without glorifying intractable physical and emotional pain is specific and personal yet large enough to let us all inside the poet's singular vision. 'I am a story; these are my markings, / my alphabet,' Megan Henson writes. 'I tell you who I am, / and I will not be interrupted.' Skaggs' photography, too, is intent upon removing the barrier between the viewer and the viewed, allowing nerve and vein to pulse up through portraiture's skin, offering a visceral experience of what pain does."—Pauletta Hansel
Author Bio
Megan D. Henson received her MFA in Creative Writing from University of Kentucky. She is the author of WHAT PAIN DOES (Dos Madres Press, 2018) and LITTLE GIRL GRAY (Dos Madres Press, 2020). Her work has appeared in various journals including Snapdragon: A Journal of Art and Healing and Gravel. Her short story "Girl, Sick with Stories" won an Honorable Mention in the International Human Rights Art Festival's 2020 Creators of Justice Literary Award. She teaches at Northern Kentucky University.
J. Michael Skaggs's award-winning photography has been published in The State of America, Black and White Magazine, B&W+COLOR Magazine, Licking River Review and True NKU. He created the photographs for WHAT PAIN DOES (Dos Madres Press, 2018) and LITTLE GIRL GRAY (Dos Madres Press, 2020) by Megan Henson. He is the author of Americans Revisited Volume I (Edgecliff Press, 2008). He has exhibited in New York City, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky, Vermont, Indiana, Oklahoma and Kansas. Michael received his MA in Speech Communication from Montclair State University. He has taught Public Speaking, Intro to Communication Studies and Photojournalism courses at Northern Kentucky University since 2000.
Author City: CINCINNATI, OH USA