InRefusal,hersearingnewcollectionofpoetry,JennyMolbergdrawsonelementsoftheuncanny--inventedhospitals,theDemogorgonofDungeons&Dragons,anOpheliacharacterwhorefusessuicide--toinvestigatetrauma,addiction,andforcesofoppression.Exposingtheeffectsofwidespreadtoxicmisogyny,thisconfrontationalvolumeexaminessocietal,cultural,andpersonalgaslightinginsituationsofdomesticabuse.AsMolbergwritesin“LovingOpheliaIs,““loveandhatesimultaneouslyisthetrickofabuse/andthetrickofabuseisavexationofthemind.“Asequenceofepistolarypoemslookstofriendshipasasafehavenfromviolentromanticrelationships,whileanotherseriesonamother’sstrugglewithaddictioncapturesthecomplicatednatureofaparent-childrelationshipaffectedbyalcoholism.Refusalseekstobreaksilencesandtointerrogateaculturalmisogynythatweighsheavilyonawoman’spositionintheworld.
CULTURAL ADDICTION DRAGONS cultural addiction
