From the Bookshelf of 2013 Hub Reading Challenge…

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard

Lesléa Newman

Discussion: Stonewall

Why we're reading this: Stonewall Book Award honor
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Gone, Gone, Gone
By Jenni · 2 posts · 9 views

last updated May 04, 2013 11:00AM

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last updated May 04, 2013 08:10AM

What Members Thought

May 25, 2013 Jessica Schwartz rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, 2013-hub-reading-challenge, verse

I was in middle school when Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered. His story had and continues to have a strong impact on me. As a Denver native, and as someone with gay friends and family members, the fact that something so terrible could happen so close to home was deeply saddening and unsettling.

I received a copy of this book a few months ago, but never felt ready to read it. "The Laramie Project" left me a sobbing, emotional mess and I assumed that this book would too. As it turns out, I had I was in middle school when Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered. His story had and continues to have a strong impact on me. As a Denver native, and as someone with gay friends and family members, the fact that something so terrible could happen so close to home was deeply saddening and unsettling.

I received a copy of this book a few months ago, but never felt ready to read it. "The Laramie Project" left me a sobbing, emotional mess and I assumed that this book would too. As it turns out, I had no need to be concerned about being moved by this book. "October Mourning" ended up having the opposite effect on me.

This book is incredibly problematic. Newman, a proudly out lesbian poet, was scheduled to present a talk the week after Shepard’s death for GLBT awareness week at the University of Wyoming, and Matthew’s death had a profound impact on her. This series of poems, as Newman explains in her introduction, “are not an objective reporting” of the events surrounding Matthew’s murder, but rather “[her] own personal interpretation of them.”

It’s clear that Newman went into this project with the best of intentions; however, I did not find the book to be successfully executed. Not only does it feel incredibly heavy-handed, didactic and emotionally manipulative, but much of the poetry is cliched and trite. I found myself rolling my eyes more than a few times! For example, one of the most heavy-handed poems of the bunch, "Where is My Boy?" is told from the perspective of Matthew's cat. "Where is the sweet boy who loves me so much,/ his whole face lights up at my purr or my touch?" the sad kitty implores. The cadence of this rhyming couplet make it sound like it was written by Dr. Seuss on anti-depressants.

In reading this, rather than bearing witness to the tragic events of the Matthew's death, I felt as though I were bearing witness to the author’s personal therapy session. I’m sure it was therapeutic for her to write, but these poems do not add anything to the conversation about Matthew Shepard. That said, though the poems fall flat, Newman’s prose introduction and epilogue provide a moving commentary about the author’s personal connection to the events, and for that I can give the book 2 stars.

The tragic story of Matthew Shepard is still incredibly relevant and important to share with today’s teens, but I don't think this is the book to do that with. Moises Kaufman’s "The Laramie Project" is a far more masterful and moving and tribute.
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Feb 02, 2013 Donna rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbtqia, nonfiction, poetry, verse-novel

In 1998 Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay college student, was tied to a fence in rural Wyoming, brutally beaten and left to die. He was discovered 18 hours later and rushed to a hospital, but never regained consciousness. Newman, a poet, spoke at his university for National Coming Out Day just five days later. She revisits the crime and its aftermath in this slim book of verse.

My feelings about the individual poems are mixed. Some, like "Where Is My Boy?" (from the POV of Shepard's cat -- "Wh ...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Samantha Tai rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, yalsa-2013-hub-reading-challenge, stonewall

On Oct. 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay twenty-one-year-old University of Wyoming student was lured from a bar by two young men, savagely beaten and then tied to a fence in Laramie, WY and left to die. In Oct of 1998, I was just finishing my last semester of college. Until I read this book, I never heard of Matthew Shepard (to the surprise and chagrin of my two co-workers). In October Mourning, Leslea Newman creates a historical novel in verse in memory of Matthew Shepard. October Mourning is a ...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: realistic-fiction, verse-novel, 2013, 2013hubchallenge, stonewall

There really are no words for how timely and important this book is. It absolutely tore me to pieces, and though it took me just under an hour to read it from cover to cover, it will resonate with me for a long, long time, perhaps even to my grave. I was in high school when Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten, lashed to a fence, and left to die for the simple fact that he was gay. In this collection of poems, Leslea Newman explores his life, his death, and his legacy. A rich, powerful, and heart ...more

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