This
is a journey on becoming what you hate, reflecting how you got there,
and how to get back from it, if you can.
Penance
of the Byronic Hero
by
Paula Macena
Genre:
Narrative Poetry
Penance
of the Byronic Hero is a narrative poetry collection that highlights
emotional trauma in religious upbringings, specifically within
marginalized communities, and how it reflects on personal
relationships. Separated into four different acts, it recounts heavy
topics in their rawest form, including mental illness and domestic
violence, and the perspective of one who is toiling through these
things and attempting to find a way out.
Penance
of the Byronic Hero is full of heartache and beauty. Both the wonders
and pains that come with the act of living. -Goodreads review
I
was slightly skeptical of this book as I don’t tend to enjoy poetry
collections. I find them to be disjointed, overelaborate, and somehow
still flat and distant. Paula’s book was none of those things. The
writing were clear reflections of a series of experiences and ideas.
Acute relatability yet still unique expressions existed on every
page. –Goodreads review
Paula
Macena is, above all, a writer. Aside from being published in Jr High
the Magazine, Culturally Arts Collective, and Prometheus Unbound, her
most recent poetry collection, Penance of the Byronic Hero was
released in June 2023. In her pursuit of shedding light on
marginalized writers, she hosts local writers’ events throughout
Southern California. When she isn’t writing, you can find her
making too much coffee, watching The Vampire Diaries, and staring
lovingly at her cats.
