56k dial-up. Ouija boards. Crushes.
Internet Girlfriend explores the intersection of the internet, the occult, and sexuality.
These poems mirror the abyss: divination, web camming, myth, instant messages, queerness, witchcraft—all in the name of trying to feel something.
“In Valente’s debut book, Internet Girlfriend, we go on enchanting dates with poems. They envelop us in a simultaneously glossy and sinister sheen, turning us on—maybe even to our meta-reality. As words, glitching pixels, codes, and messaging accumulate, we peer into the sheer magic of a loose language, a reckoning with our inner teenager, and wherein the internet as our lover; Meaning develops past the screens. We become engaged to our witch hood.”
—Katherine Factor, author of A Sybil Society, winner of the Interim Test Site Poetry prize
“Stephanie Valente’s internet girlfriend oozes with style. In an age of Y2K nostalgia, this collection of poems somehow makes the dial-up days feel glamorous while also experimenting with form in such a way that makes me excited for the future, assuming it will contain more poetry like this. These poems are a mystical time warp, a sequined occult ritual, and a lip gloss kiss stain emoji all at once. Valente writes: “please make / everything feel / opalescent // now and / forever” & that is exactly what every single poem in this collection does.”
— Kailey Tedesco, author of She Used to be on a Milk Carton, Lizzie, Speak, and FOREVERHAUS
Stephanie Athena Valente lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her published works include Hotel Ghost, waiting for the end of the world, Little Fang, and Spell Work (Bottlecap Press & Giallo). Featured writing incudes Witch Craft Magazine, Maudlin House, and Hobart. She is the associate editor at Yes, Poetry. Sometimes, she feels human. stephanievalente.com
Grab your copy directly from CLASH books, or on Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
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