Winterproof, Poems by Jennifer Reeser
In
her second book, Winterproof, Jennifer Reeser uses the traditional
music of verse to make poems of austere bitterness and quiet joy. Her lines,
at once formally flawless and pushing technique to its ragged edge, carve
and cauterize emotion more sharply than any knife. Reeser is one of the most
gifted formal poets of her generation, and Winterproof is the announcement
of an enduring career.
Sample Poems by Jennifer Reeser
"In Winterproof, Jennifer Reeser continues to develop and strengthen
her considerable art, so impressive in her previous collection. Writing most
of the time within the confines of traditional form, she nevertheless delivers
fresh surprises and rewards. Her poems of nature, of love and marriage aren't
like anyone else's; they shine with insight and unfamiliar truth. Her rhymes
are intrinsic, never decorative--a sign of high skill. This is a book to buy
two copies of--one to cherish, one to give to a friend who loves fine poetry."--
X.J. Kennedy
"Although she has learned that 'no craft on earth is master to despair,' Jennifer Reeser's Winterproof is not a despairing collection. It is a veritable garden of verses, cultivated with confident forms from sapphics to sonnets and a few wilder varieties. Among the many poems that strike me are 'Water and Cherry,' 'Had Bonnie Blue Survived To Bury Rhett,' and 'The Neighborhood.' This is a measured voice gaining new authority, and, as she writes in her lovely 'Nocturne Over Water,' 'Nothing illumines longing more.'"--David Mason
Jennifer Reeser was born in October, 1968. She is the author of a previous collection of poems, collections: An Alabaster Flask, published by Word Press. She has contributed poems, translations and articles to such publications as The National Review, Salt, The Dark Horse, The Formalist, The New Laurel Review, Louisiana Literature, Blue Unicorn, Cumberland Poetry Review, and Pivot. Her work appears in numerous print and online anthologies, including Phoenix Rising: The Next Generation of American Formal Poets (edited by Sonny Williams, consulting editor Dana Gioia), The Alsop Review and Hypertexts. Her honors include a Pushcart Prize nomination, the 2000 Innovative Form Award and Wordsworth Mention from the World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets, and the New England Prize from The Lyric. She is assistant editor to Iambs &Trochees and lives in Louisiana with her family Visit her website at www.geocities.com/jdreeser.
ISBN: 1932339817, 92 pages, $17.00