MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentor Commentary:
Jeanette Beebe

Recipient Reflection: 
Dreama J. Mason

On "A Good Death" ​by Dreama J. Mason

by Jeanette Beebe

I chose Dreama as a mentee because when I read "A Good Death" for the first time, I recognized its potential. I was taken in by the title, the first line, and the ending — all three were working. Then, once we began working together, I was impressed by Dreama's commitment to the process. During our edits, she returned with new material — language that now feels essential for the poem. This new stanza, for example, stunned me: 

     Not even the man who used his last words to ask to go outside.
     “He’s too sick,” the nurses said. “It’s too chilly.”
     He passed away, neck craned towards the window
     that had been opened
     just a crack.

We worked through six drafts in total, each version sharper and more powerful than the last. 

I feel honored to have shared this opportunity with her, as it resulted in her first publication. 

Jeanette Beebe

Jeanette Beebe is a poet and journalist. She was a finalist for the Iowa Review Award in Poetry. Her poems have appeared in The Journal, Salamander, Sixth Finch, Juked, Bayou Magazine, Poet Lore, and elsewhere. Nominated for Best New Poets and a Pushcart Prize, she formerly served as social media manager for Nat. Brut. She got into poetry through spoken word, with stage-to-page poems stapled into zines — a journey that led her to the Brave New Voices Poetry Slam as a member of Minneapolis/St. Paul’s team. She holds an A.B. in English from Princeton University with certificates in Creative Writing and Gender & Sexuality Studies. She lives in Akron, Ohio. Her website is www.jeanettebeebe.com.​