What the Body Remembers

Adele Slaughter’s first book of poems, What the Body Remembers, was published by Story Line Press in 1994. It is an autobiographical collection of glimpses into a childhood fraught with familial violence, alcoholism, and trauma, and the life that has been led in its wake; the failure of a marriage and the experiences that forever mold us as human beings. Through all the abuse and suffering these poems portray, however, the driving theme behind What the Body Remembers never falters: the reader is left with an inspiring picture of courage, perseverance, femininity, and the survival of the truest self. The subject of the work remains always the poet, the speaker, even as great attention is drawn to the circumstance surrounding her, providing an impactful example of how our greatest pains may leave us changed, but not defined, and never defeated. Pat Monaghan called the book “a stunning debut volume.”

Adèle Slaughter received her MFA in poetry from Columbia University. Her first book of poems, What the Body Remembers, was published by Story Line Press in 1994. Slaughter participated in Tupelo Press’ 30/30 Project, and her poems have appeared in other small press magazines. She has also co-written a nonfiction book entitled Art That Pays: An Emerging Artist’s Guide to Making a Living (2004), as well as written and produced a short film, Jealousy (2014), based on her novel of the same name. Jealousy was shown at the Studio City and Houston Film Festivals. Slaughter has been a professor at California State University Channel Islands, among other colleges in the Los Angeles area, and a journalist covering personal health for USAToday.com. She was named a Distinguished Teacher by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars in 1993, and she received a national journalism prize for her coverage of multiple sclerosis 2004. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeff Kober, and their labradoodle, Bud Powell.