Small Gods of Grief

by Laure-Anne Bosselaar

The Isabella Gardner Poetry Award winner for 2001.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

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

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently discovered Laure-Anne Bosselaar. I read lots of poetry books. Small Gods of Grief is one that I will keep close. Bosselaar's use of words, images and metaphors, her musicality are all exquisite. The poems are addressing grief in many ways and forms, yet are not depressing. Bosselaar is real and authentic, and brings me her experiences and emotions in ways that make me feel seen. Highly recommend.

[Michelle Vaughn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally, these poems venture too far into meaningfulness, if you know what I mean. But so much of the imagery is really evocative. (For example, from "Harvard Bridge": "...the sun's wine-bloated host slides deep into dusk's throat." Or, from "Community Garden": "Clouds bruise in, clog the sky...") Basically, if you like looking at the sky, have I got a collection of poems for you.

[Danielle DeTiberus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beauty. The opening poem, "Great Gullet Creek" is stunning. I just figured out why today after all this time: it is seemingly so simply told, as if a friend has leaned over and shared one her favorite stories. Yet, by the end of the poem, I literally feel (each time) that I have skated over Great Gullet Creek and that I, too, must hide with speaker to keep her parents very far away.

Ok...an update to this review. I've been obsessed with Joni Mitchell lately (again)and turn on "River" whenever I want to become a puddle. Then it hit me: Laure-Anne, this is the piano-cousin of "Great Gullet Creek"! Why has it taken me this long to realize this?

[Davita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some poets move us so profoundly, we are changed forever and there are no words for how this happened. This is my experience of Laure-Anne Bosselaar.....exquisite, tender, insightful, amazing. Life-changing.

[Joshua Gage · Rating 4 out of 5]

The language here is tight and compact, but occasionally the subjects of the poems drift into the mundane, and leave the reader wanting more. When Bosselaar is focused on issues and themes that will affect the reader and their world directly, her work is resonant and rich.

[B November · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrid

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

very graceful poetry...