Review: A Tight-Lipped Kind of Love: Jennifer Manthey’s The Fight
“Jennifer Manthey’s poetry debut, The Fight (Trio House Press, 2023), winner of the 2022 Trio Award, employs an astonishing sparseness of language alongside impeccable imagistic control—striking choices, considering the complexities driving the book.
Manthey writes about systematic racism in America from the perspective of a white, interracial adoptive mother. Her stylistic choice points to a bold, if subtle, suggestion. Perhaps, uncovering the roots of our attitudes toward race demands a rigorous consideration of language itself: how might our everyday words expose, spread, and fuel toxic beliefs about racial others? And what language, if any, could counter those toxic beliefs?”