Incident at the Edge of Bayonet Woods: Poems

by Paula Bohince

“[Paula] Bohince is more naturalist than romantic, meaning that her poems above all honor their dark side, their realism, their edge.”—Stanley Plumly Spanning decades and set on a decrepit farm, Incident at the Edge of Bayonet Woods begins with a speaker invoking her dead father. As details are gradually uncovered, we learn the father was murdered by a trusted laborer. Paula Bohince has received a “Discovery”/ The Nation Award in 2007, the Grolier Poetry Prize, and grants from the Puffin and the Ludwig Vogelstein foundations. In 2008, Bohince will be the Amy Clampitt Resident Fellow in Massachusetts. She lives in Pennsylvania.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Paula Bohince is the author of three poetry collections, all from Sarabande: Swallows and Waves (January 2016), The Children (2012), and Incident at the Edge of Bayonet Woods (2008). Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Granta, POETRY, The TLS, The Irish Times, Australian Book Review, and elsewhere.

She has been the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholar, the Dartmouth Poet in Residence at The Frost Place, a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Amy Clampitt House Resident, the inaugural Summer Poet in Residence at the University of Mississippi, a MacDowell Colony Fellow, and a Hawthornden Fellow.

She has received the "Discovery"/The Nation Award, the Grolier Poetry Prize, the George Bogin Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, and Second Prize in the UK National Poetry Competition for her poem "Among Barmaids."

She has taught at New York University, the New School, The Poetry School, and elsewhere.

She lives in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I named Paula Bohince's debut collection as the best poetry book published in 2008. Set in the backwards of Pennsylvania, the collection presents a story that explores both nature and local history as the main persona seeks to find the truth behind her father's death. Beautiful!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous. Lyric and personal--I love those images! They are what drive the narrative, as opposed to the curiosity of the mystery revealed. I'd like to sit down and do a closer read, maybe even write a review at some point.

[Marty Trujillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim volume of beautiful, impressive, and ultimately disturbing poems is a fantastic example of the power of poetry. Like “Stag's Leap,” Sharon Olds’s moving dissection of her failed marriage, “Incident at the Edge of Bayonet Woods” has the power to surprise, anger, and ultimately move you to a new understanding of poetry’s capabilities. Paula Bohince’s language is crystal clear and unambiguous. She wants you to feel what she has felt, in a straightforward and unsentimental way. There has been a tendency in recent years to celebrate the independence and self-sufficiency of rural living while ignoring the huge cost many pay for that kind of isolation and poverty. “Incident at the Edge of Bayonet Woods” is Paula Bohince’s magnificent effort to provide a more thorough — if oddly gothic —perspective. Hers is a talent to watch.

[Mike Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the second section, and if it were only that section (and maybe the third) I would give this five stars. The narrative interwoven there and in the third section really takes off at "The Apostles" and pulls me in, but the first section lagged somewhat for me. However, "Spirits of Bayonet Woods" (in the first section) was absolutely immaculate and was actually my favorite in the collection.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked most of the poems in this collection, the language is rich without being closed.

It's been fun to get into poetry lately and I'm enjoying finding more contemporary poets that I enjoy. Her collection certainly feels timeless and not so modern I can't enjoy it (for example, I hate poetry that talks about e-mail or fax machines or something).

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting into the first section of this collection. These poems were much too distant for me. But the second section grabbed me and didn't let go until the end of the whole collection. There are some beautiful pastoral, naturalist poems that explore truth and suffering.

[hh · Rating 3 out of 5]

the poems in this collection build beautifully upon one another, accreting and forming interesting landscapes. i'd really like to give this collection a 3.5 - it didn't knock my socks off, but it did quietly charm me.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some poems offer remarkable images and striking language. Not sure if the work works as a book. Didn't really challenge me, make me laugh out loud, or give me something to ponder over.