The Story
Midsummer Night's Toast is a collection that answers to no one, a freedom we learn the speaker has finally afforded herself after a half-life spent under the glaring light of tradition, fear, of men, of institutions. She's answered to her parents, to students, to academia, shame, to the workshop model, to various earlier versions of herself and is ready--in short--to have a good time. The invite list for this particular party belongs entirely to her: friends, street names, Kelly Ripa inside a crossword puzzle, bounced checks, hurricanes and Marilyn Hacker, frat boys and birds, bridal shops, Chaucer, the pictures her husband draws, King Arthur, Adrienne Rich. She's sad for sure, and angry, but she's also fierce as fire. At times these poems feel hurried, because they are. The landscape of this book feels like that penultimate moment in When Harry Met Sally when Billy Crystal says, "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Mamie Morgan is reenacting a half-life of pain utilizing a kaleidoscope she's crafted from discarded paper, felt, cheap gemstones, crayons worn to nubs, and mixtapes. Lots of mixtapes.
Author: Mamie Morgan
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 04/07/2026
Pages: 80
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.27lbs
Size: 8.52h x 6.34w x 0.24d
ISBN: 9780821426685
About the Author
Mamie Morgan's poems and essays have appeared in Oxford American, The Atlantic, Muzzle, Four Way Review, Sixth Finch, Carolina Quarterly, Smartish Pace, and elsewhere. Her first collection, Everyone I've Danced with Is Dead, was published by JackLeg in 2024. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and their dogs, Henrietta Modine and Wednesday Stewart.
Description
Midsummer Night's Toast is a collection that answers to no one, a freedom we learn the speaker has finally afforded herself after a half-life spent under the glaring light of tradition, fear, of men, of institutions. She's answered to her parents, to students, to academia, shame, to the workshop model, to various earlier versions of herself and is ready--in short--to have a good time. The invite list for this particular party belongs entirely to her: friends, street names, Kelly Ripa inside a crossword puzzle, bounced checks, hurricanes and Marilyn Hacker, frat boys and birds, bridal shops, Chaucer, the pictures her husband draws, King Arthur, Adrienne Rich. She's sad for sure, and angry, but she's also fierce as fire. At times these poems feel hurried, because they are. The landscape of this book feels like that penultimate moment in When Harry Met Sally when Billy Crystal says, "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Mamie Morgan is reenacting a half-life of pain utilizing a kaleidoscope she's crafted from discarded paper, felt, cheap gemstones, crayons worn to nubs, and mixtapes. Lots of mixtapes.
Author: Mamie Morgan
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 04/07/2026
Pages: 80
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.27lbs
Size: 8.52h x 6.34w x 0.24d
ISBN: 9780821426685
About the Author
Mamie Morgan's poems and essays have appeared in Oxford American, The Atlantic, Muzzle, Four Way Review, Sixth Finch, Carolina Quarterly, Smartish Pace, and elsewhere. Her first collection, Everyone I've Danced with Is Dead, was published by JackLeg in 2024. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and their dogs, Henrietta Modine and Wednesday Stewart.
