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Cuts & Collected Poems 1989 - 2015
'Cuts' is Maria Haskins' first collection of poetry written in English. Also included in this book are her three previously published and very well-received collections of poetry: 'Blå' ('Blue'), 'Honung' ('Honey'), and 'Den tredje' ('The Third'). All have been translated from the original Swedish to English by the author, and are available in English for the very first time.
Maria Haskins made her literary debut in Sweden in 1989 with 'Blå' ('Blue'), a well-received collection of poetry published by Swedish publishing house Norstedts. Her two other collections of poetry 'Honung' ('Honung') from 1992, and 'Den tredje' ('The Third') from 1995 received many favourable reviews in Sweden, and her poetry has been included in several anthologies.
Her English language debut ODIN'S EYE - a collection of science fiction short stories - was published in March, 2015.
Maria Haskins made her literary debut in Sweden in 1989 with 'Blå' ('Blue'), a well-received collection of poetry published by Swedish publishing house Norstedts. Her two other collections of poetry 'Honung' ('Honung') from 1992, and 'Den tredje' ('The Third') from 1995 received many favourable reviews in Sweden, and her poetry has been included in several anthologies.
Her English language debut ODIN'S EYE - a collection of science fiction short stories - was published in March, 2015.
144 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2015
202 people want to read
About the author
Maria Haskins
54 books141 followersMaria Haskins is a Swedish-Canadian writer and reviewer of speculative fiction. She was born and grew up in Sweden, and debuted as a writer there, but now lives just outside Vancouver with two kids, a husband, a snake, several noisy birds, and a very large black dog.
Her work is available in the short story collections WOLVES AND GIRLS (2023) and SIX DREAMS ABOUT THE TRAIN (2021).
Her work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year, Lightspeed, Nightmare, The Deadlands, Shimmer, Cast of Wonders, Mythic Delirium, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Flash Fiction Online, and elsewhere.
She has had several books published in Sweden, but since 2015 she writes mainly in English.
Her work is available in the short story collections WOLVES AND GIRLS (2023) and SIX DREAMS ABOUT THE TRAIN (2021).
Her work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year, Lightspeed, Nightmare, The Deadlands, Shimmer, Cast of Wonders, Mythic Delirium, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Flash Fiction Online, and elsewhere.
She has had several books published in Sweden, but since 2015 she writes mainly in English.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 1, 2016
Cuts & Collected Poems is a collection of poetry by Maria Haskins. Two of the books in the collection were originally written and published in Swedish, and recently translated by the author into English. That feat in itself is exceptional. I found myself wondering how she managed to keep the meaning and emotion in the older poetry, but somehow she has done just that.
All of the poetry is extremely evocative and thought-provoking. I would find myself reading certain lines and actually seeing the action in my head, and then other lines would make me wonder what she meant by that, and this would lead to all sorts of interesting imagery. It's clear that the first book, Cuts—which is the author's most recent poetry book and the first one written in English—is a collection written by a seasoned poet. She is someone who can make the reader feel emotions by just changing the way she constructs a sentence. One of the poems, I can't remember which now, brought a tear to my eye.
The older poetry, written mostly when she was a teenager, is full of passion and angst. There is a lot of dark imagery and you can almost feel the turmoil of a young girl still trying to come to terms with certain emotions and feelings.
This strikes me as a very personal collection of poetry, and it seems almost as if the author uses poetry to untangle the thoughts in her mind and bring clarity.
Cuts & Collected Poems is well worth reading and will take you inside the author's mind. Reading these poems is like venturing into a new world where everything is not quite as it seems.
All of the poetry is extremely evocative and thought-provoking. I would find myself reading certain lines and actually seeing the action in my head, and then other lines would make me wonder what she meant by that, and this would lead to all sorts of interesting imagery. It's clear that the first book, Cuts—which is the author's most recent poetry book and the first one written in English—is a collection written by a seasoned poet. She is someone who can make the reader feel emotions by just changing the way she constructs a sentence. One of the poems, I can't remember which now, brought a tear to my eye.
The older poetry, written mostly when she was a teenager, is full of passion and angst. There is a lot of dark imagery and you can almost feel the turmoil of a young girl still trying to come to terms with certain emotions and feelings.
This strikes me as a very personal collection of poetry, and it seems almost as if the author uses poetry to untangle the thoughts in her mind and bring clarity.
Cuts & Collected Poems is well worth reading and will take you inside the author's mind. Reading these poems is like venturing into a new world where everything is not quite as it seems.
January 31, 2016
Four books in one. The first one is the author’s first poetry collection written in English. The other ones are the translation of her three poetry books in Swedish. What do they have in common? The voice. The same voice that merges the most unusual visions of a landscape with the author’s personal feelings and perceptions. And it all sums up in a poetry collection that is, at the same time, strange and familiar, unexpected and evocative of places close to home.
One of the first unusual traces in this book is the fusion between outside and inside, as if the feelings and dreams and impressions and ideas that form the personal essence of the poem could merge into the strange landscape that the poem describes. It’s like seeing the world through different lenses, lenses that show what happens inside and also what the mind sees on the outside.
All of this is constructed in a series of poems where the only structure is the form in which the ideas come to life. There is no rhyme, no imposed rhythm. And yet the words find a rhythm of their own. The verses flow in unison with the thoughts, emotions and images to which the poems give life. And, thus, it all becomes freer, more natural, more vivid.
There is, somehow, a personal universe hiding in these feeling and sceneries. And this personal aspect can, sometimes, create a feeling of distance, as if the voice in the poems lived someplace very far. But there are also many familiar impressions that, in contrast with the distance, create an interesting equilibrium. She, the voice in the poems, is herself and no one else. But there is something of her in each one of us.
It all sums up in quite an interesting collection. Short poems, where a few verses are enough to say what needs to be said, and longer poems, projecting a whole image or a new and strange adventure to the world. Some of them brilliant, some of them less impressive, but all quite interesting. And all of them truly worth a read.
**I received this book through Goodreads giveaways
One of the first unusual traces in this book is the fusion between outside and inside, as if the feelings and dreams and impressions and ideas that form the personal essence of the poem could merge into the strange landscape that the poem describes. It’s like seeing the world through different lenses, lenses that show what happens inside and also what the mind sees on the outside.
All of this is constructed in a series of poems where the only structure is the form in which the ideas come to life. There is no rhyme, no imposed rhythm. And yet the words find a rhythm of their own. The verses flow in unison with the thoughts, emotions and images to which the poems give life. And, thus, it all becomes freer, more natural, more vivid.
There is, somehow, a personal universe hiding in these feeling and sceneries. And this personal aspect can, sometimes, create a feeling of distance, as if the voice in the poems lived someplace very far. But there are also many familiar impressions that, in contrast with the distance, create an interesting equilibrium. She, the voice in the poems, is herself and no one else. But there is something of her in each one of us.
It all sums up in quite an interesting collection. Short poems, where a few verses are enough to say what needs to be said, and longer poems, projecting a whole image or a new and strange adventure to the world. Some of them brilliant, some of them less impressive, but all quite interesting. And all of them truly worth a read.
**I received this book through Goodreads giveaways
November 22, 2015
There is something about a poetry collection that spans the entire length of your life. Maria Haskins has been writing as long as I have been alive and her talent is beyond seasoned. The passion, words, and emotion behind every poem are astonishing and mesmerizing. But perhaps her own words describe it best:
take me with you
take me even farther
away from the fire.
take me with you
take me even farther
away from the fire.
March 28, 2016
I spent a long and peaceful afternoon reading Cuts & Collected Poems 1989 – 2015 by Maria Haskins, a collection of stunning, sensitive, and beautiful poetry. It is amazing to note that some of the poet’s earlier work was translated from Swedish. Even in her teen years, Haskins wrote with the insight and depth of a person who has been on the earth for many more years.
Poetry is so difficult to review. One almost has to be a poet (which I am not) to clearly articulate the feelings given to the reader as a gift from the poet.
Quite appropriately, this collection opens with poems about a new life—childbirth being born. The poet writes these poignant slices of life with delicate perfection.
As I slowly read through this collection, I was so taken by the work that I read many of the poems two or three times. GRANDMOTHER was one of these poems: fragile, exquisite, true-to-life, sad, relatable, and real.
IN THE FOREST was another favorite because of its extraordinary imagery.
In END OF THE WORLD and LOST, I was captivated because of the way the poet softly lets the reader feel her pain.
IN SCHOOL was special to me because of the memories and pain it brought to mind, feelings that I think most of us relate to in one way or another.
WEATHERED, with its words shrouded in sadness, was another that touched me deeply and I loved the descriptive DRAGON.
HAWK, for me, had such insightful meaning and RAPUNZEL, with its poetic storytelling, had me imagining a glorious scene from a film.
In her poem, TRESPASSERS WILL, Haskins writes:
“Sometimes I think you know everything about me, and sometimes I am sure that you know nothing at all.”
I believe most all of us know someone to whom these words.
Another line I loved came from the poem IN A RUT: “only crumbled time like stale bread in front of the benches in the park,”
I could go on, but my feelings/responses/reactions about/to these wonderful poems won’t mean much unless you read this collection for yourself. Maria Haskins is a gifted poet. As you read her work, you may find yourself wondering, How does this poet know me so well?
Highly recommended.
Poetry is so difficult to review. One almost has to be a poet (which I am not) to clearly articulate the feelings given to the reader as a gift from the poet.
Quite appropriately, this collection opens with poems about a new life—childbirth being born. The poet writes these poignant slices of life with delicate perfection.
As I slowly read through this collection, I was so taken by the work that I read many of the poems two or three times. GRANDMOTHER was one of these poems: fragile, exquisite, true-to-life, sad, relatable, and real.
IN THE FOREST was another favorite because of its extraordinary imagery.
In END OF THE WORLD and LOST, I was captivated because of the way the poet softly lets the reader feel her pain.
IN SCHOOL was special to me because of the memories and pain it brought to mind, feelings that I think most of us relate to in one way or another.
WEATHERED, with its words shrouded in sadness, was another that touched me deeply and I loved the descriptive DRAGON.
HAWK, for me, had such insightful meaning and RAPUNZEL, with its poetic storytelling, had me imagining a glorious scene from a film.
In her poem, TRESPASSERS WILL, Haskins writes:
“Sometimes I think you know everything about me, and sometimes I am sure that you know nothing at all.”
I believe most all of us know someone to whom these words.
Another line I loved came from the poem IN A RUT: “only crumbled time like stale bread in front of the benches in the park,”
I could go on, but my feelings/responses/reactions about/to these wonderful poems won’t mean much unless you read this collection for yourself. Maria Haskins is a gifted poet. As you read her work, you may find yourself wondering, How does this poet know me so well?
Highly recommended.
June 15, 2017
some just wash over me but there are some very interesting poems in this collection. O particularly liked "self- Extinguished|"
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews