Description

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Houlihan’s sixth collection of lyric poems reflects upon the persistence of what is lost and the accidental ruptures of trauma that allow re-entry into our world. These poems are at once despairing and hopeful.

About the Author

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Joan Houlihan’s most recent book, Shadow-feast (Four Way Books, 2018), received the 2019 Must-Read distinction from the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Houlihan teaches at Lesley University’s Low- Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program and is Professor of Practice in Poetry at Clark University. Houlihan founded and directs the Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference. She lives outside of Boston.

Praise For…

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“With simple, bold tones, she outlines the liminalities where sleep, waking, and other universal states merge in the personal . . . shines with a serious lyrical burnish in which image and truth alike take on the luster of icons.”
—Chad Parmenter, American Book Review

“Critics compare her to Emily Dickinson and I think I know why. They each distill language and feeling to a crystalline state that never tells a lie.”
—Grace Caliveri, Washington Independent Review of Books

“. . . an impressive control of prosody and an arch yet tender sensibility throughout, often distilling perceptions of the physical world into exacting, resonant imagery.”
—Rusty Morrison, Boston Review

“Houlihan wields language like a weapon, carving out lines that are stingingly precise.”
—Ellen Wehle, West Branch

“. . . original, energetic language that confronts various shades of darkness and captures the oddness of being alive.”
—Pamela Alexander, FIELD

“. . . takes acuity and intensity of feeling not as its ends, but points of departure.”
—Michael Snediker, Pleiades