Best Local Poet
Denise Duhamel
A creative writing professor at Florida International University, Duhamel writes the sort of edgy-but-life-affirming poems of which we could all use a little more in our lives. She specializes in fusing her often racy introspection with politics and pop culture; her acute sense of the absurd and her playfulness serve as a strangely perfect backdrop for the exploration of topics such as feminism or the military. In one poem, "Kinky," Duhamel depicts Barbie and Ken switching heads:
Barbie squeezes the small opening under her chin
Over Ken's bulging neck socket. His wide jaw line jostles
Atop his girlfriend's body, loosely,
Like one of those novelty dogs
Destined to gaze from the back windows of cars.
The poem goes on to depict a strange sexual encounter that turns gender identity on its head. Duhamel seems to make the mind's strange, everyday meanderings artful, and she imparts upon all of us a delightful sense that we, too, live in a poem.
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