by Victor Stobbe photographed by Gwendolyn Klassen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 9, 2015
A worthy contribution to the afterlife of biblical poetry.
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Debut author Stobbe gives modern readers a fresh look at the Psalms in this clever poetic experiment.
Although the Hebrew Bible features hundreds and hundreds of pages of prose—straight narrative telling the stories of God’s people on Earth—it’s also a treasure trove of ancient Israelite poetry, including the Song of Songs, Proverbs, and the book of Ecclesiastes. Many of the biblical prophets write in verse, too. But the great grand-daddy of them all is Psalms, a 150-chapter behemoth that stands at the center of the biblical poetic tradition. This new volume builds firmly on that tradition and reads like a modern update on psalmic literature. Indeed, it’s effectively a deconstruction of roughly two dozen Psalms. In each poem, the author takes one memorable line from a Psalm, breaks it down into its constituent parts, and builds a new verse around them. For instance, in “God of Power and Might,” the author begins with a brief line from Psalm 93: “Your statutes stand firm.” The resultant poem takes those four words as tent poles: “YOUR might thunders from distant ocean shores; / STATUES established long ago. / STAND still, / listen / to the sea’s / rolling voice / Stand / FIRM / unto eternity— / in God’s word, we rejoice.” The author builds the rest of the poems according to the same model. Of course, the risk of such a structured approach is that it might begin to seem mechanical—a too-clever exercise. However, that never happens here, in large part because Stobbe’s model is so flexible. Instead of the Psalms becoming a ponderous edifice that stunts or crushes the new verse, the Bible instead acts as a thin but powerful frame. Further, it’s clear that the author has immersed himself in the Bible’s poems in preparation for writing this book, as his works feature many of the structural and stylistic elements of scriptural verse. Stobbe’s poems are also set in front of gorgeous photographs by Klassen, many of which depict the grandeur of the natural world; these only enhance the collection’s atmosphere of reverence and awe.
A worthy contribution to the afterlife of biblical poetry.Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4602-6636-6
Page Count: 56
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Katie Keridan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 2, 2018
Therapeutic, moving verse from a promising new talent.
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Keridan’s poetry testifies to the pain of love and loss—and to the possibility of healing in the aftermath.
The literary critic Geoffrey Hartman once wrote that literature—and poetry, in particular—can help us “read the wound” of trauma. That is, it can allow one to express and explain one’s deepest hurts when everyday language fails. Keridan appears to have a similar understanding of poetry. She writes in “Foreword,” the opening work of her debut collection, that “pain frequently uses words as an escape route / (oh, how I know).” Many words—and a great deal of pain—escape in this volume, but the result is healing: “the ending is happy / the beginning was horrific / so let’s start there.” The book, then, tracks the process of recovery in the wake of suffering, and often, this suffering is brought on by romantic relationships gone wrong. An early untitled poem opens, “I die a little / taking pieces of me to feed the fire / that keeps him warm / you don’t notice that it’s a slow death / when you’re disappearing little by little.” The author’s imagery here—of the self fueling the dying fire of love—is simultaneously subtle and wrenching. But the poem’s message, amplified elsewhere in the book, is clear: We go wrong if we destructively give ourselves over to others, and healing comes only when we turn our energies back to our own good. Later poems, therefore, reveal that self-definition often equals strength. The process is painful but salutary; when “you’re left unprotected / surrounded by chaos with nothing you / can depend on / except yourself / and that’s when you gather the pieces / of the life you lost / and use them to build the life you want.” The “life you want” is an elusive goal, and the author knows that the path to self-definition is fraught with peril—but her collection may give strength to those who walk it.
Therapeutic, moving verse from a promising new talent.Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-72770-538-6
Page Count: 196
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by William Poe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 16, 2015
Downbeat but often engaging poems and stories.
A slim volume of largely gay-themed writings with pessimistic overtones.
Poe (Simple Simon, 2013, etc.) divides this collection of six short stories and 34 poems into five sections: “Art,” “Death,” “Relationship,” “Being,” and “Reflection.” Significantly, a figurative death at the age of 7 appears in two different poems, in which the author uses the phrase “a pretended life” to refer to the idea of hiding one’s true nature and performing socially enforced gender roles. This is a well-worn trope, but it will be powerful and resonant for many who have struggled with a stigmatized identity. In a similar vein, “Imaginary Tom” presents the remnants of a faded relationship: “Now we are imaginary friends, different in each other’s thoughts, / I the burden you seek to discard, / you the lover I created from the mist of longing.” Once in a while, short story passages practically leap off of the page, such as this evocative description of a seedy establishment in Lincoln, Nebraska: “It was a dimly lit bar that smelled of rodent piss, with barstools that danced on uneven legs and made the patrons wonder if they were drunker than they thought.” In “Valéry’s Ride,” Poe examines the familial duties that often fall to unmarried and childless people, keeping them from forming meaningful bonds with others. In this story, after the double whammy of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hits Louisiana, Valéry’s extended family needs him more than ever; readers will likely root for the gay protagonist as he makes the difficult decision to strike out on his own. Not all of Poe’s main characters are gay; the heterosexual title character in “Mrs. Calumet’s Workspace,” for instance, pursues employment in order to escape the confines of her home and a passionless marriage. Working as a bookkeeper, she attempts to carve out a space for herself, symbolized by changes in her work area. Still, this story echoes the recurring theme of lives unlived due to forces often beyond one’s control.
Downbeat but often engaging poems and stories.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5168-3693-2
Page Count: 120
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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