Bernadette Geyer

Kelly Cherry

Marjorie Maddox

Joel Allegretti

A Contemporary Poetry Anthology

My Cruel Invention

If religious poetry may be thought of as a great river fed, in the English language, by two main streams—the devotional tradition, leading in recent times to Anne Sexton and John Berryman, and the contrastingly philosophical tradition, exemplified by William Blake—it is to the latter that this new book by Kelly Cherry belongs. In the poems of God’s Loud Hand, Cherry conducts—often not at all devotionally, often with an honesty that precludes the emphasis on self that tends to be present in devotional poetry (“Lord save me,” “Lord forgive me,” “Lord help me”)—a metaphorical investigation of the theological ideas. These are fiercely intellectual poems, which, in the way of T.S. Eliot, are more akin in their stringent analysis to Tillich or Niebuhr, perhaps, than to someone like Simone Weil. At their base in a willingness to ask Abraham’s great question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth judge wisely?” This intellectual boldness reveals itself in a formal argumentation rare in contemporary poetry. Like Donne or Hopkins, Kelly Cherry defines her terms, orders her points logically—no vagary or sentimentality appears here. The result of such exactitude is a kind of clarity, a grace, that seems to lift the poems off the page, to cause them to rise, make their own kind of ascension. It is as if these poems were larks—an exaltation of larks, as they say—that rise each morning to heaven’s gate, but instead of singing hymns, they sing philosophy’s own music. And in what a remarkable variety of keys, what a range of modes and moods. From the opening poems of historical and mythological drama, through the passionate love songs of the second sections, through the dark night of the soul that takes place in the third, to the orchestral outburst of the final group of poems—poetry celebrating its own freedom ot be poetry—in all these parts (“a chorus of lyrics,” one might say) there is a symphonic unity that astonishes, an ode to joy.

Poems

God's Loud Hand

In a series of passionate, profound, often humorous, observations, Kelly Cherry explores the art of writing, its relationship to place, and its importance in our lives. "I have never written a 'travel essay, '" Cherry says, but her travels inform her poetry and fiction. Now, seeking to understand what it means to write from any particular place, she charts a course in creative nonfiction prose. From Cleveland to Yalta, Wisconsin to Latvia, England to the Arizona desert or the Philippines, she writes as a way of knowing the world. Along the way we become acquainted with the author herself, whose parents were string quartet violinists. They didn't go to church and, caught up in a rehearsal, sometimes forgot to put dinner on the table, but there was always music in the house (or the tenement flat). Cherry recalls warmly the stories of her childhood: "I don't know whether or not there's a God," her mother would say, "but I know there was a Beethoven, and that's good enough for me." And always there was writing. As young writers do, Cherry earned her living at a variety of jobs--creating fictional histories of overseas orphans for their U.S. sponsors; editing and writing religious textbooks; a stint as a visiting professor in southwest Minnesota, where, in order to live in the dormitory, the only housing practicable for someone without a car, she had to enroll simultaneously as a student (she took astronomy). And in the evenings, the mornings, and other stolen moments, she wrote--as she does now--to create beauty from a specific kind of knowledge, the knowledge we acquire by creating beauty. Cherry explores what it means to be a Southern writer and a woman writer, and discusses the changing face of the profession of writing. "To be a writer in America is to be marginal," she notes, adding that perhaps the best place for a serious writer to reside is "on the edge, outside looking in." You seek to know what it means to be living where you are, and that search is, for a writer, a searching out of language. That quest is, for a writer, a questioning. For a writer, beauty and knowledge begin in the same place. With its brilliant insights and beautiful language, Writing the World is an eloquent meditation on what it means to be a writer. Like Annie Dillard's The Writing Life and Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings, Cherry's Writing the World will be a lasting inspiration for anyone who has ever dreamed of being a writer.

Writing the World

Interconnected stories span a five-generation journey through life, death, love, and loss, told in Kelly Cherry's masterful and transcendent prose.

Stories

A Kind of Dream

Literary Nonfiction. Literary Criticism. Women's Studies. "Poet, memoirist, fiction writer, and critic Cherry has assembled a lissome and winning retrospective collection of essays on writing, reading, and life," writes Donna Seaman in her starred Booklist review. "Piquant essays on family history and her coming-of-age are deepened by reflections on beauty, art, and vocation. In fresh and inquiring portraits of exceptional southern women writers--Eudora Welty, Elizabeth Hardwick, Mary Ward Brown, Bobbie Ann Mason--Cherry explores the nature of a literary life." Library Journal writes, "Cherry explores the craft of writing, tracing her own development from rebellious college student to award-winning author of 19 books... Cherry's story will prove inspirational to aspiring writers as will her critical essays."

On Women Writers & the Writing Life

Girl in a Library

Presents information about the Society of Friends or the Quakers, compiled as part of the electronic version of "The Catholic Encyclopedia," provided online by Kevin Knight. Recounts the history and beliefs of the sect.

The Society of Friends

In The Wink of an Eye is a modern fable in the form of a novel. Or a romantic satire. Or a social burlesque. Or an ironic fantasy. Or all of the above. Whatever the label, it's a joy to read. This tale is about a revolutionOCoa small, upstart, none-too-promising revolutionOCothat succeeds too well. A band of inept guerrillas in the Bolivain backcountry has modest ambitions to take over the jungle-ridden province of Santa Cruz, a place no one else wants. Before the story is half over a shady German industrialist, with an obsession for big deals and big women, devises a scheme to expand the revolt into a takeover of all of South America. The President of the United States, for his own veiled purposes, embraces that takeover for a vast Western Hemisphere plan. And through the independent actions of a few irate citizens in Tulsa, New York, and London, the plan unexpectedly snowballs into a wildcat world movement. The second half is more explosive still. To match the swift, tumultuous action, there's a cast of engaging, outrageously human characters. Just a hint: In Bolivia, at the start there is Miguel, young rugged guerrilla leader; ambitious entrepreneur with a frequent glance toward a personal place in history. Rosita, lively, lovely, sensual, practical young woman, living with Miguel; as great with a rifle as she is in bed, but would rather be a wife and mother. Ramon, shy nonviolent, U.S.-educated son of wealthy Bolivian family; Miguel's closest friend and advisor; wouldn't know how to use a rifle; is hopelessly in love with Rosita. (Who wouldn't be--except for a dope like Miguel?) And the cast captivatingly enlarges in New York, London, Tulsa, Washington, Rome, Cape Canaveral, and the environs of the Amazon. Boson Books also offers Sick and Full of Burning by Kelly Cherry. For an author bio and photo, reviews and a reading sample, visit bosonbooks.com."

Kelly Cherry

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