Kettle Bottom is a collection of historical poems published in 2004 by Perugia Press in Florence, Massachusetts and written by Diane Gilliam Fisher.
The collection is structured to read as a narrative; the poems written chronologically into one coherent, suspenseful plot.
One of the strongest literary devices she employs in her poems is an acute sense of dialect and voice, which not only matches time and place (early 1920s in West Virginia), but also character.
This unique ability to go outside herself to capture the personalities and viewpoints of others is shown immediately in Diane Gilliam Fisher's opening poem of Kettle Bottom: Explosion at Winco No.
Betty Rose seen a piece of Willy's ear, the little notched part where a hound had bit him when he was a young'un, playing at eating its food.
Us that learns by heart birthmarks, scars, bends of fingers, how the teeth set crooked or straight.
[4] The powerful message that Kettle Bottom conveys to its readers is a realization of the horrific history of labor in America and the corruption that circulated during this time, causing dangerous work conditions and inhumane treatment of workers.
One of the most compelling persona poems in the collection tells the life story of an Italian immigrant who came to America with the dream of becoming an expert stonecutter and architect: David At home, in Carrara, Papa he is mastro di tagliapietra, master stonecutter, maker of beautiful buildings and bridges.
Rich men they knock on our door, asking licenza to enter our house, to talk with Papa about a portico, or a piazza.
[6] By using persona characters such as the Italian immigrant in David, Diane Gilliam Fisher conveys in Kettle Bottom the emotional truth of West Virginia's coal mining history.