Without Protection

From Russian fairy tales to Craigslist ads, stories of identity, family, and sexuality are unraveled and woven anew in poems of a woman caught between two worlds.

In poems rich with sensuality and discord, Mukomolova explores her complex identity—Russian, Jewish, refugee, New Yorker, lesbian—through the Russian tale of Vasilyssa, a young girl left to fend for herself against the witch Baba Yaga. Heavy with family and fable, these poems are a beautiful articulation of difference under duress.