Tombasco

Winner of the 2023 Michael Waters Poetry Prize

Set in a kingdom populated with Shitshow Barbie, the Queens of Mean and Sourpuss, and a Lolita Army, MilkforGall is a postmodern feminist epic that challenges patriarchal contradictions. The collection creates a protean landscape that opens with a primordial sigh and descends realm after realm, self after self, questioning passed-down constructions of womanhood while cultivating a nomenclature all its own: nimble, lush, rhythmic verse that liberates itself from the male gaze.

Natalie Louise Tombasco is a poet, editor, and teacher from Staten Island, NY. Tombasco holds an MFA from Butler University and a PhD in creative writing from Florida State University. She is a visiting assistant professor at the University of Tampa. Recent work can be found in Best New Poets, Verse Daily, Gulf Coast, Black Warrior Review, Diode Poetry Journal, Copper Nickel, and The Cincinnati Review, among others.