Root Rot by Rhienna Renée Guedry

Root Rot by Rhienna Renée Guedry
ISBN-13: 978-1-943899-18-0
Paperback, 35 pages
First Edition, 2023
$9.00 + t/s/h

Root Rot as a collection is a reckoning with the environment and histories, internal and external. It explores grief and loss, and that disruption spurs growth. This book closes with land acknowledgment, though these poems work as acknowledgment of the land itself, those interior and exterior spaces. Louisiana, Florida, and Oregon are cataloged as we learn of flood waters rising into houses, and storms blowing past, too. Much has rot, corrosion, mildew, and "what the sun gives / does not match what our bodies need." What is not lacking is music. "Winter pulls no punches yet I forget / every year how it bleeds." The voices offer interiority of a type that seeks to include us.

Rhienna Renée Guedry (she/they) is a writer, illustrator, and producer whose favorite geographic locations all have something to do with their proximity to water. A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and 2022 Tin House Workshop alum, her work has appeared in Muzzle, Maudlin House, Gigantic Sequins, HAD, and elsewhere. Rhienna is currently working on her first novel. Find out more about her projects at Rhienna.com.