Photo courtesy of Eric Doise Marshall resident Saara Myrene Raappana’s first full-length book of poetry, “Chamber After Chamber,” was published this year, after more than a decade of work. Raappana died this spring, but reader response to her book has been strong.

MARSHALL — It was something she had worked on through more than 11 years of writing, revising, and rejections.

Last year, Marshall resident Saara Myrene Raappana learned her collection of poetry, titled “Chamber After Chamber,” won the University of Massachusetts Press’s Juniper Prize for poetry, and would be published.

“She was right about how good it was,” said Eric Doise, Raappana’s husband.

Raappana never got the chance to see the official launch of her book this month. She died March 27 of brain cancer at the age of 48. But the strong response her book received from readers was something powerful for both Raappana and Doise.

“It’s been incredible,” Doise said of the response to Raappana’s work. “It’s been overwhelming, but that part has been overwhelming in the best way.”

A book launch event and poetry reading for “Chamber After Chamber” was held Wednesday at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Raappana had published poetry in the past, including two chapbooks of her poetry. However, “Chamber After Chamber” was her first full-length poetry book, Doise said.

“Chamber After Chamber” was officially released April 1, although pre-orders of the book started going out before then. There’s been high demand — the book went to a second printing run, “which is kind of unheard of” for poetry, Doise said. The publishers ended up having to give files of the book to Amazon in order to help meet printing needs, he said.

“Saara knew it went to a second run before April 1,” Doise said. “It was one of the things she felt a lot of joy and comfort in. I think she also felt validated,” he said.

Doise said he also just learned this week that Raappana’s book had been nominated for a National Book Award.

At the book launch Doise read from “Chamber After Chamber,” but audience members also got to hear Raappana herself, through video clips. In one video, Raappana read “When I Say Heart,” an early version of a poem that became part of “Chamber After Chamber.”

“She really pursued the idea of ‘heart,’ and the many things we mean when we say ‘heart,'” Doise said of the poem. Some of those reflections on “heart” took unusual turns. At one point, Raappana wrote about how Richard the Lionheart’s heart was embalmed after his death. At another, she told a story about dissection, based on her own experiences in high school biology class.

Ultimately, Raappana decided to break the original version of the poem up into shorter pieces, and spread them out through the book, Doise said.

Another theme that Raappana, a native of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, examined in the book was the sometimes gritty side of life in rural settings.

“She writes a lot about rurality,” Doise said.

Raappana didn’t always see her experiences reflected in more pastoral, peaceful descriptions of rural areas, he said.

Raappana’s poems in “Chamber After Chamber” are “loosely autobiographical,” and inspired by her life experiences, Doise said. However, some details and people in the poems had been changed, while others were added in.

In addition to reading Raappana’s poetry, Doise also answered questions from the audience. He said Raappana’s writing “flow” would go through intense periods, with breaks. She really started refining the manuscript that would become “Chamber After Chamber” around 11 years ago.

Raappana reworked poems, physically rearranged manuscript pages, and submitted the manuscript many times before winning the Juniper Prize.

“She revised just like crazy,” Doise said. “In her mind, she was like, ‘I know how to make this better.’ “

The book found its final form around 2021, he said.

Although Raappana didn’t get a chance to take part in the official launch of her book, Doise said it was still meaningful to celebrate it. He had had a conversation with Saara when they realized she wouldn’t be able to hold a reading for “Chamber After Chamber,” and asked if she would be OK with him giving the reading.

“From a personal standpoint, I think one of the things you worry about is people forgetting about your favorite person,” Doise told the Independent. “For me, this is one way to try and make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Copies of “Chamber After Chamber” can be ordered online at www.umasspress.com, as well as through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bookshop.org.