In this Book
- In the Permanent Collection
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: University of North Texas Press
- Series: Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry
summary
Trying to make sense of a disordered world, Stefanie Wortman's debut collection examines works of art as varied as casts of antique sculpture, 19th-century novels, and even scenes from reality television to investigate the versions of order that they offer. These deft poems yield moments of surprising levity even as they mount a sharp critique of human folly. "These poems seem haunted by a mostly nameless melancholia. In The Permanent Collection, however, turns its grim geography of prisons, mortuaries, and tawdry suburbs into something close to classical elegy. 'In sunken rooms,' Wortman writes, 'on scratchy rugs, maybe we’ve never known happiness.' It’s that 'maybe'—the smart hedge—that renders her poems complex, often beguiling, but never without a gesture of redemption. This should be part of any serious poet’s permanent collection."— Chad Davidson, author of The Last Predicta and judge
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-x
- I
- Reform, Missouri
- p. 3
- Blind King
- pp. 4-5
- New Orleans
- p. 6
- Low Definition
- p. 7
- The General
- p. 9
- Weed Guide
- p. 10
- Careless Simile
- p. 11
- Vaudeville
- p. 12
- Strip Mall
- p. 13
- Long Occupation
- p. 14
- II
- Twelve Bar Blues
- p. 17
- Recovery Coffee
- pp. 18-19
- Sibling Gothic
- p. 20
- Family Plot
- p. 23
- Permanent Collection
- pp. 24-25
- Mortuary Art
- p. 28
- III
- To My Heart
- pp. 31-32
- The Zombie
- p. 33
- Tennessee Williams
- p. 35
- Star Chart
- p. 40
- Sleeping Song
- p. 42
- IV
- Dance of Death
- pp. 46-47
- Compact Mirror
- pp. 49-50
- Sight Gags
- pp. 51-52
- Spiritual Exercises
- pp. 56-58
- Praise for Prize Winners
- pp. 59-56
Additional Information
ISBN
9781574415643
Related ISBN(s)
9781574415544
MARC Record
OCLC
881256022
Pages
80
Launched on MUSE
2014-06-10
Language
English
Open Access
No