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October mourning
128 pages
A haunting, deeply felt cycle of verse that gives voice to the silent witnesses of a tragic hate crime.
What it feels like
Reading this novel in verse feels like standing vigil under a cold, watchful sky. It is a deeply somber and reflective experience, moving at a steady, deliberate pace through sixty-eight interconnected poems. The narrative texture is uniquely haunting, shifting away from traditional prose to offer imaginative, empathetic monologues from unexpected witnesses like the silent fence, the watchful stars, and the gentle deer. This creates an atmosphere of profound reverence and collective grief. The verse is stunning and deeply felt, transforming a brutal reality into a poignant space for mourning and memory. It is a powerful read for young adults and poetry enthusiasts who appreciate literature that bears witness to tragedy while offering an enduring, compassionate tribute to a life lost to hate.
- Mood
- somber
- reflective
- tragic
- poignant
- Tone
- mournful
- reverent
- empathetic
- haunting
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- collective grief · bearing witness · homophobia and hate · memory and tribute
- The writing
- A stunning cycle of verse that uses imaginative, shifting perspectives to craft deeply felt, poetic monologues.
- The arc
- Moves from the shock and horror of a brutal tragedy to a space of enduring, poetic remembrance.
- Who it's for
- Young adult readers and poetry lovers seeking a powerful, empathetic exploration of a real-world tragedy.
Content notes
- murder
- hate crimes
- homophobia
- kidnapping
- physical assault
About the book
On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was kidnapped from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day.
Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life.
Description from Open Library.
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