Animal Histories

Divided into four sections and mixing poetry with lyric essay, Animal Histories explores the origin, acquisition, and development of poetic language. Contrasting poetic language from language used for communication, the book posits that poetry is maternal, learned in utero by listening to the cadences and rhythms of the mother’s speech (the “mother tongue”) while communicative language is paternal, shaped by power structures that are often patriarchal (the “father tongue”).