Maria Zoccola – Helen of Troy, 1993 In-store Reading and Signing
Saturday, Jan 25, 2025 3:00 PM
Location:
A Cappella Books
208 Haralson Avenue, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30307
Part myth retelling, part character study, Maria Zoccola’s sharp, visceral debut poetry collection reimagines Helen of Troy from Homer’s "Iliad" as a disgruntled housewife in 1990s Tennessee.
A Cappella Books welcomes acclaimed poet Maria Zoccola for a special afternoon reading and book signing in honor of her debut poetry collection, "Helen of Troy, 1993."
This event is free and open to the public; copies of the book will be available for purchase.
About the Book
In the hills of Sparta, Tennessee, during the early nineties, Helen decides to break free from the life that stifles her: marriage, motherhood, the monotonous duties of a Southern housewife. But leaving isn’t the same thing as staying gone…
Rooted in a lush natural landscape, this stunning poetry collection explores Helen’s isolation and rebellion as her expansive personality clashes with the social rigidity of her small town. In richly layered poems with settings that range from football games to Chuck E. Cheese to the bathroom of a Motel 6, Helen enters adulthood as a disaffected homemaker grasping for agency. She marries the wrong man, gives birth to a child she is not ready to parent, and embarks on an affair that throws her life into chaos. But she never surrenders ownership of her story or her choices, insisting to the reader: “if you never owned a bone-sharp biography… / i don’t want to hear it. i want you silent. / i want you listening to me.”
Blurring the line between mythology and modernity, "Helen of Troy, 1993" is an unforgettable collection that shows the Homeric Helen like she’s never been seen before.
About the Author
Maria Zoccola is a poet and educator from Memphis, Tennessee. She holds writing degrees from Emory University and Falmouth University and has led creative writing workshops for middle and high school youth for several years. Maria’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, The Sewanee Review, ZYZZYVA, and other publications, and has received a special mention for the Pushcart Prize. "Helen of Troy, 1993" is her debut poetry collection.
