with Ethel Press
It certainly has been an abundant year! This chapbook if microprose/ essayettes/ prose poems was published this year by the splendid Ethel, a wonderful indie press in Colorado, featuring chapbooks, minibooks, and anthologies edited and hand-sewn by Sara Lefsyk.
Here, you can find a link to Bitten by the Lantern Fly. The cover was designed by my talented cousin, Claire Sage Jorgensen.
And, to learn more about the content, themes, and style of the book, here is a review of the book in the literary magazine Claudine written by D. E. Hardy. Here’s an excerpt of the review:
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Bitten by the Lantern Fly by Frances Cannon is a series of flash-length prose poems and micro-essays that constitutes a self-proclaimed love letter to Cannon’s partner, chronicling the first year of their romantic relationship, which coincided with the advent of the pandemic.
He’s a botanist; she’s a poet. They share an obsession with observing and naming the natural world. Ferns. Mushrooms. Beetles. Together, their world becomes larger than imagination, one nature walk at a time. Throughout, Cannon explores the uncertainties of new love and the equally tender considerations inherent in navigating relations with her partner’s ex while forging her own relationship with his young daughter.
WHAT WE LOVE
Cannon’s precision of language and attention to image are a delight to the senses. This book is a feast for those longing for keen observation and careful prose. Phrases like “mushroom fruit” thrill with their accuracy and invite the reader to revel in the abundance of nature. In this way, Cannon thoughtfully exposes an irony of the English language: we have such exacting, specific names for flora and fauna, and such imprecise, messy language to talk about our fears and insecurities and relationships.
The portrait of Cannon’s partner’s daughter is especially well-crafted. The reader cannot help but be charmed as the young girl so wholeheartedly takes up her father’s craft and shares his love for the natural world. A nascent family blooms before our eyes.
FAVORITE QUOTES
“Even when you’re sitting directly in front of me, you’re not close enough. I want to crawl inside your mouth, or maybe take a bite of your cheek, your jaw, your neck.”
“I want to see you pick a leaf and pull it close to your face, tenderly, like all that matters in the world are the floral curiosities of a walk in the woods.”
“Our idea of a hot date is a Sunday excursion to the science museum on the river to see the ‘Exquisite Creatures’ exhibit of pinned insects.”
