Slant Six - Softcover

Belieu, Erin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1556594712 ISBN 13: 9781556594717

Publisher: Copper Canyon Press, 2014

Synopsis

Honored as one of "10 Favorite Books of 2014" Dwight Garner, "The New York Times" Honored as a "Standout Book of 2014" "American Poet" magazine Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that s equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is innocent; everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition . Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: Don t tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do. It s a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them. "Publishers Weekly, " starred review A smart and nettling book of poems about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field. Dwight Garner, "The New York Times""Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. '12-Step, ' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza 'myself' before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu's speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." "Booklist" "From poem to poem in the smart, savvy "Slant Six, " Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallows of today s America

About this title

About the Author:

Erin Belieu: Erin Belieu was born and raised in Nebraska and educated at the University of Nebraska, Ohio State University, and Boston University. She is the author Infanta, winner of the National Poetry Series in 1994, One Above & One Below, winner of the Midlands Poetry Prize and Ohioana Poetry Award, and Black Box, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, all of which were published by Copper Canyon. Her poems have appeared in places such as Best American Poetry, The New York Times, and Atlantic Monthly, . Belieu co-founded VIDA: Women in Literary Arts with poet Cate Marvin. She currently directs the Creative Writing Program at Florida State University and is the Artistic Director at Port Townsend Writers' Conference.

About this edition

• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1556594712
• ISBN 13: 9781556594717
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96