penumbra
Released July 14, 2020 from Ghost City Press
penumbra is a small collection of weirdo misfit poems paired with photography taken by the author. ​Deglane explores the ever-changing self as each poem traverses between light and shadow, good and evil, sureness and uncertainty, melancholy and illuminating hope.
​
This micro-chapbook is free to download as a part of Ghost City Press' 2020 Summer Series. Limited print copies are also available from the author.
"I am softened. my body, my nervous belly, were built for forgiveness."
Advanced Reviews
"Wanda Deglane's penumbra wrestles the soft dusty rose hue of femininity with the gray hard stillness of nostalgia and the slipshoddiness of finding your place in the world; this is a chapbook rich in color and flavor, a gloaming accented by fireflies, as satisfying as a plate of pomegranate and cheese."
-Kolleen Carney Hoepfner, author A Live Thing, Clinging with Many Teeth; Your Hand has Fixed the Firmament
"penumbra, a microchapbook of poetry and photography by Wanda Deglane, is titled with precision as both art and poetry deal with evolution and the shadow self. In “munich & the sound before hanging up,” Deglane writes “I’ve been afraid of my own shadow, the way it wavers and splits at the edges.” Later in “at a job interview, I am asked about my biggest weaknesses” Deglane‘s speaker asserts, “I can’t decide if I’m a good person yet, but I want to be.” This dialogue of self-awareness and evolution is omnipresent throughout this terse collection. The gorgeously photographed flowers and buildings amplify Deglane’s diction on the dualities of the modern natural world — the beauty and the shadow of it, the business that peeks between a gap in flowers the poet has stopped to photograph. This is the complexity of the human condition one recognizes as one evolves; through her curation of photography and poetry Deglane captures the conundrum of the penumbra with grace and aplomb."
-Kristin Garth, author of Candy Cigarette Womanchild Noir and Flutter: Southern Gothic Fever Dream
​
"Were it possible to read the words on these pages from behind closed eyes, you have to in order to truly experience the poems that make up penumbra, so vividly haunting is its imagery. Wanda Deglane paints beauty into the macabre and the uncanny in each line—violence and screams intermingle with the peace of sleep and delicacy of fine china in this absolute masterpiece of softness and strength."
-Juliette Sebock
​
"penumbra is a juxtaposition of beauty, the discursives, obtuse, and slant wisp fragments. The author evokes a fierce tenderness through the poems that carries the reader into uncharted territories. This is a book of striking imagery, compelling analogies with the body, and strength. There is a largesse in scope and ensuing permutations in the narrative. This is an essential book of engaging shifts and surprises."
-Sneha Subramanian Kanta, Poetry Editor, Parentheses Journal
​
"When you are created lost, and more confused when found, let this book be your guide to rebirth.”
- Chris Margolin -, The Poetry Question
​