University of Nevada Press, 2022 eISBN: 978-1-64779-041-7 | Paper: 978-1-64779-040-0 Library of Congress Classification PS3606.A263S93 2022 Dewey Decimal Classification 811.6
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK With fearless and playful language, Katherine Factor’s debut collection reveals agony, humor, and the necessary voices of the female oracle through time. The oracle’s message is apparent—she is not dead. Her words are cryptic but contemporary, offering caution along with guidance to a society interested only in using prophecy for profit.
In a time when only a select few are prosperous, A Sybil Society paints a portrait of the present moment and unveils a restless truth. The collection is fearless in the face of convention and gives readers a sense of devastating sorrow in a world gone mad.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Katherine Factor is an editor, book coach, and children’s book author. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has held positions at the Idyllwild Arts Academy and Interlochen Arts Academy. Her poems and audio work have been published by Interim, The Conversant, Quarterly West, Poets for Living Waters, The Equalizer, DIAGRAM, and the Colorado Review, and on WFMU and TextSound.org.
REVIEWS
“Factor’s is a poetry that strikes with the speed and charge of lightning. Ping, sting, and tingle. Afterward, a “flush and flow.” Yo, goddesses, witches, and sisters—behold, Katherine Factor’s poetic effort to rematriate!” — Jami Macarty, NewPages Blog
“In A Sybil Society, Katherine Factor has made a new prosody, using urban slang, internet shorthand, and all the variations of American English in the twenty-first century, a system of new sound that refuses easy epiphany, offering instead a twisting language, mad speaker, and always original address to try to reach us, here, on what’s left of our earth.”
—Ronaldo V. Wilson, member of the Test Site Poetry Advisory Board, author of several poetry collections, and winner of the Pushcart Prize
“Yes, I want to morph exploitive logics into deep fungal punster connectedness. Here comes A Sibyl Society. Rampaging, delicate, muscular, hilarious oracle, please tell us what to do!”
—Catherine Wagner, author of Of Course
“Throughout this marvelously sparkly, quick-witted collection, sound leads the mind, mining rhyme, echo, pun, and any number of other verbal gymnastics. Tone leads, too; a rather sassy contemporaneity reigns—it’s delightful and incredibly smart. If you’re looking for the oracular, this Sybil is, per tradition, utterly cryptic, and yet her take on the future feels firm. And firmly rooted in the magic of language; as Factor says, “Best to let the alphabet / sail in.”
—Cole Swensen, author of Art in Time
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Aurora
@ the Last Venue
When Medicine Comes for Us
White Goddess House
A Sybil Society
An Ariadne
Delphi Selfie
The Virus About Us
Tripod Lockdown
Antediluvian Floozy
The Pythia Proudly Has ADHD
When the General Arrives w/His Ask
Make Love Not Wall
Shhh @ the Temple of Inscriptions
The Age of Nefarious
Queen of the Night
Mycenae, Founded by Fungi
Poly Colony
Pleasure Centaur
Vestals Hack the Passcode
The Feisty Disc Discovery
New Dating Technique
Mistress of Honey
How a Bill Originates in Vulvic Space
Animous Uni State
Lady with a Lamp
We All Need a Death Doula
Elegy for a Satyr
Fancy Necromancy
Dollar Goddess
Helmet Dressing Room
How to Haul a Parasol
Whistle Blow Her
Joan d’Arc
Soggy Augury
Labyrinth in Sync
HMU @ Emerald Tablets
WTF @ the Library of Alexandria
Duende Friending
Pythia LOL
W*i*T*C*h Please
Pentheus the Unelected
Aliens, Do Arrive Pronto
Rock on Parnassos
The Pythia’s Final Prophecy
Self-Love
Acknowledgments
About the Author
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Nevada Press, 2022 eISBN: 978-1-64779-041-7 Paper: 978-1-64779-040-0
With fearless and playful language, Katherine Factor’s debut collection reveals agony, humor, and the necessary voices of the female oracle through time. The oracle’s message is apparent—she is not dead. Her words are cryptic but contemporary, offering caution along with guidance to a society interested only in using prophecy for profit.
In a time when only a select few are prosperous, A Sybil Society paints a portrait of the present moment and unveils a restless truth. The collection is fearless in the face of convention and gives readers a sense of devastating sorrow in a world gone mad.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Katherine Factor is an editor, book coach, and children’s book author. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has held positions at the Idyllwild Arts Academy and Interlochen Arts Academy. Her poems and audio work have been published by Interim, The Conversant, Quarterly West, Poets for Living Waters, The Equalizer, DIAGRAM, and the Colorado Review, and on WFMU and TextSound.org.
REVIEWS
“Factor’s is a poetry that strikes with the speed and charge of lightning. Ping, sting, and tingle. Afterward, a “flush and flow.” Yo, goddesses, witches, and sisters—behold, Katherine Factor’s poetic effort to rematriate!” — Jami Macarty, NewPages Blog
“In A Sybil Society, Katherine Factor has made a new prosody, using urban slang, internet shorthand, and all the variations of American English in the twenty-first century, a system of new sound that refuses easy epiphany, offering instead a twisting language, mad speaker, and always original address to try to reach us, here, on what’s left of our earth.”
—Ronaldo V. Wilson, member of the Test Site Poetry Advisory Board, author of several poetry collections, and winner of the Pushcart Prize
“Yes, I want to morph exploitive logics into deep fungal punster connectedness. Here comes A Sibyl Society. Rampaging, delicate, muscular, hilarious oracle, please tell us what to do!”
—Catherine Wagner, author of Of Course
“Throughout this marvelously sparkly, quick-witted collection, sound leads the mind, mining rhyme, echo, pun, and any number of other verbal gymnastics. Tone leads, too; a rather sassy contemporaneity reigns—it’s delightful and incredibly smart. If you’re looking for the oracular, this Sybil is, per tradition, utterly cryptic, and yet her take on the future feels firm. And firmly rooted in the magic of language; as Factor says, “Best to let the alphabet / sail in.”
—Cole Swensen, author of Art in Time
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Aurora
@ the Last Venue
When Medicine Comes for Us
White Goddess House
A Sybil Society
An Ariadne
Delphi Selfie
The Virus About Us
Tripod Lockdown
Antediluvian Floozy
The Pythia Proudly Has ADHD
When the General Arrives w/His Ask
Make Love Not Wall
Shhh @ the Temple of Inscriptions
The Age of Nefarious
Queen of the Night
Mycenae, Founded by Fungi
Poly Colony
Pleasure Centaur
Vestals Hack the Passcode
The Feisty Disc Discovery
New Dating Technique
Mistress of Honey
How a Bill Originates in Vulvic Space
Animous Uni State
Lady with a Lamp
We All Need a Death Doula
Elegy for a Satyr
Fancy Necromancy
Dollar Goddess
Helmet Dressing Room
How to Haul a Parasol
Whistle Blow Her
Joan d’Arc
Soggy Augury
Labyrinth in Sync
HMU @ Emerald Tablets
WTF @ the Library of Alexandria
Duende Friending
Pythia LOL
W*i*T*C*h Please
Pentheus the Unelected
Aliens, Do Arrive Pronto
Rock on Parnassos
The Pythia’s Final Prophecy
Self-Love
Acknowledgments
About the Author
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE