Portulans by Jason Sommer
Taking cues from medieval sea charts-portulans-the poems in Jason Sommer's collection bring a fresh variation to the ancient metaphor of life as a journey.
"'There are no words / beneath the shape of things, ' Sommer concedes, but his poems almost make one believe that there could beWith the care and precision of a navigator trying to discern paths that won't simply circle back, he bypasses metaphors gone wrong, riding a syntax supple enough to hold the music of the 'the mind's buoyant gravities.' The many kinds of rhymes in this collection are invitations to listen closely to the layers of history and myth that hum beneath thinking. 'It's inner space he's after, ' and he takes us there."--Mary Szybist, author of Incarnadine "The beauty of Portulans comes not only from Sommer's formal gracefulness, but also from his matching that virtuosity with mortal stakes. Poems like 'Incident at the Mother's, ' 'Attention, ' and 'Billy's Facts of Life' reveal narrative skill and unsentimental depth of sympathy that little contemporary fiction can equal, while 'Multiverse' and 'In the Basement Is the Previous Culture' display Sommer's sheer capacity of imagination. Open to spontaneity while masterfully carved, these poems are alive to our moment, which they will outlast."--Peter Campion, author of One Summer Evening at the Falls
Jason Sommer is the author of four previous books of poetry, most recently The Laughter of Adam and Eve, and two in the Phoenix series: Other People's Troubles and The Man Who Sleeps in My Office. He has also published English versions of Irish language poems and two collaborative book-length translations of contemporary Chinese fiction. His poems have appeared in publications such as the New Republic, Ploughshares, Chicago Review, Agni, River Styx, and TriQuarterly, among others.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780226737393 |
| ISBN 10 | 022673739X |
| Title | Portulans |
| Author | Jason Sommer |
| Series | Phoenix Poets |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | The University of Chicago Press |
| Year published | 2021-03-02 |
| Number of pages | 80 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |