The Hour Between Dog and Wolf

by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Charles Simic (Foreword)

Laure-Anne Bosselaar's poetry captures the lives of "lost souls roaming"--be they young girls in convents, merchants, whores, widows, soldiers. Old Europe still lives in Bosselaar's rich language: Entre chien et loup, as it's known in Flanders--the time at dusk when a wolf can be mistaken for a dog.

Lyrical poetry that sings of farmers, families and nunneries in Belgium and Flanders.

Genres: Poetry, Leadership

80 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Laure-Anne Bosselaar grew up in Belgium, and moved to the United Statesin 1987. Fluent in four languages, she has also published poems in French and Flemish. She is the author of The Hour Between Dog and Wolf (with an introduction by Charles Simic), and of Small Gods of Grief, which won the Isabella Gardner Prize for Poetry for 2001. Her third book, A New Hunger, was selected as an ALA Notable Book in 2008.
Among other publications, her poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Washington Post, AGNI, Georgia Review and Harvard Review as well as in numerous anthologies. One of her poems won the National Poetry Contest, sponsored by I.E. magazine. She is also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize.
Laure-Anne is the editor of four anthologies: Night Out: Poems about Hotels, Motels, Restaurants and Bars; Outsiders, Poems About Rebels Exiles and Renegades; Urban Nature: Poems about Wildlife in the City; and Never Before: Poems about First Experiences.
She and her husband, poet Kurt Brown, translated the work of Flemish poet Herman de Coninck: The Plural of Happiness (Field Translations Series).
She was awarded a Fellowship at the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, was a Writer in Residence at Hamilton College and at the Vermont Studio Center, and was awarded the McEver Chair in Poetry at Georgia Tech in 2008. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and at the Low Residency MFA Program at Pine Manor College. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Casey Thomas]

I mistakenly read this thinking it was part of ASU's book club (book written by ASU faculty, staff, or students/alumni).

I was not expecting a book of poetry. As it is not a normal genre for me, I am always intrigued by how the poems work together or focus on main themes. This book weaves a childhood based in post world war Antwerp/Belgium with a current life in America.

I enjoyed this book, even though I have since discovered I was meant to read "At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf" by Tara Ison 😊 so that will be next

[Michael]

This is a very powerful collection of poems. Her personal narrative is so unusual (and all too common, I suppose) in the wake of WW II Europe. The range of images that she provides are rich, rich, rich indeed. I like the poems that were in the first half of the collection most of all - and then there were a few at the end that really grabbed me. But her use of images and metaphor - particularly about abuse, were words that are not often spoken and I am glad that she found ways to name these assaults on her and others. Beautifully done. I’m very glad I read it.

[John Montelpare]

Authors and artists

I am always amazed at a good artist's or author 's ability for detailed description. We all experience the same events differently so it's their ability to connect with their audience, drawing us in unison with even the most simplistic images they portray in the narrative that validates them as craftsmen. At the same time I feel those putting one to paper for all to see are in a never ending search for some sort of end game which I don't know if even a very few of them ever reach. My impression is that Laure-Anne is looking for some sort of resolution. I hope she finds or has found peace within herself.

[Shar]

This really focused on the male perspective as far as the biology aspect so I found it kind of lacking as far as a self help type book went.

[Lana Sain]

Powerful poetry.

[Jennifer]

Her poems are lovely narratives. Some of them are a little long (IMHO) but it's a spectacular book for a first book of poems by a woman in her mid-life. Gives me hope. We don't all have to be ingenues when we publish our first books.

[Danielle DeTiberus]

Runner up for, if not winner of, Best Title Ever Award.
One of my favorites.
Read: "The Pallor of Survival" and "Little Sisters of Love and Misery" and you will be hooked.

[waking beasts]

Thick and interesting poems, interesting woman. I went to hear her speak and asked her to draw a picture on the inside cover, of two birds. A bit of a strange request i suppose...

[Rauan]

i heard Laure-Anne read a few years back, and really enjoyed it. she's a great reader.