In her debut collection, Stephanie Berger cracks the earth open and exposes the “woman inside.” In a sequence of poems that present variations on the Western feminine archetype, Interior Femme visits many unique locales, from cemeteries in Brooklyn to canyons in New Mexico to churches in San Diego, Paris, and Peru. Berger approaches her subjects—mothers, goddesses, whores, daughters, muses, and movie stars—from multiple angles, and through her poems she reveals historical, personal, social, environmental, and artistic viewpoints.

The poems offer layered perspectives fused with multiple versions of female representation, as if to underscore the burden of responsibility, inherited shame, and awesome power that comes with the position women have occupied throughout history. Berger reveals a woman critically wounded—representing the totality of the Western feminine imaginary. Lyrically complex, sometimes surreal, and often ekphrastic in style and content, Interior Femme simultaneously offers heartbreak, laughter, comfort, and empowerment.


 

Stephanie Berger is a poet, performer, experience designer, community organizer, and entrepreneur. She earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the University of Southern California, received an MFA in poetry from the New School, and taught writing and film in the Department of English at Pace University. Berger is the founder and CEO of The Poetry Society of New York. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times and The New Yorker.