insignificant

B. Elizabeth Beck

Apr 2013 · Evening Street Press

About this ebook

 Unflinching could be one way to describe this debut collection. Raw could be another, as these unfiltered poems are thick with the pulp of anger and cast a narrative that stings. There is a mess that an uncle and a father and fort-building, prep-school boys could make of a girl's body, but after, there is also the truth and what it can wield. Here, you will not find perfect poems, no, but you will find a perfect kind of courage, a bravery that quite unpredictably signs off with something any survivor would do well to learn: “Live well. The cliché is true. It is the best revenge." –Nickole Brown, author of “Sister”

In her inaugural full-lengt collection, Elizabeth Beck proves herself an earnest and courageous new voice. insignificant kaleidoscopes through a spectrum of emotion rooted in agonizing depths of cloistered pain. Reflective, instructive, and intimate, these poems lament, luxuriate, and sometimes they just let loose and howl. Beck unflinchingly empties every pocket and drawer, cracks up every floorboard, committed to not only exploring but living alongside the specters of her past. –Bianca Spriggs, Affrilachian Poet; author of Kaffir Lily

In insignificant, Elizabeth Beck provides compelling witness to the violence–and its tragic after-effects–that too many girls suffer, without the ability to give it this kind of important voice. In stunning imagery, Beck sheds light on what can only be called crimes against humanity. –Sue William Silverman, author of Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You

About the author

 B. Elizabeth Beck is a writer, artist and teacher who lives with her family on a pond in Lexington, Kentucky. She achieved her bachelor of art in English Literature from the University of Cincinnati and her Master of Education from Xavier University. Elizabeth taught in the public schools for over ten years. She won the Claus Nobel Teacher of Distinction Award as well as Teacher of the Year. She is the founder of the Teen Howl Poetry Series in Lexington, Kentucky. Interiors is her first chapbook of poems by Finishing Line press. Her work can also be found in various anthologies and journals, including an essay in Harvard Education Press’s The American Public School Teacher. She is the recipient of the 2012 Kentucky Foundation for Women Artist Enrichment Grant. insignificant white girl is her first full-length collection of poems. She writes a blog “Living with Memories”, a collection of over four hundred essays discussing the topic of PTSD as an on-going endeavor to champion against childhood sexual abuse and support survivors everywhere.