Finalistforthe2023WeatherfordAwardinPoetryFinalistforthe2023ASLEBookAwardinCreativeWritingInthesehaunting,layeredpoems,LucienDarjeunMeadowsaffirmstheinterconnectionofhumanandenvironmentalidentity.“Whatcanwedobutseeknectarwhereitblooms,“whisperstheporousandquestioningspeakerofIntheHandsoftheRiver.Withdelicateprecision,IntheHandsoftheRiversubvertstraditionalpoeticformstoshowhowachildhoodforaqueerboyofbothCherokeeandEuropeanheritagehappenswithinandoutsidedominantnarrativesofAppalachia.Thisdebutcollectionweavesancestralandpersonalthreadsoftrauma,reclamation,andsurvivalintoamulti-generationalandmulti-speciestapestrythatreachesfromthedistantstarsvisibleinanAppalachianhollertothecurlofacloverstemandthetouchofthebeloved,hereandnow.Movingacrosstime,yetalwaysgroundedinplace,thesepoemsaddresstheWestVirginianlandscape,bothinexaltationandextraction,balancedwithpoemsaboutthespeaker’sownbody,andemergentsenseofqueeridentity,as“aboymadeofshards.“
