Lace & Pyrite: Letters from Two Gardens

by Ross Gay, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Lace & Letters from Two Gardens
Originally published by Organic Weapon Arts in 2014, Lace & Letters from Two Gardens captures seasonal changes and life unfolding from the perspective of two Ross Gay and Aimee Nezhukumatathil. What began as an unprompted poem correspondence between the two poets in the late July swelter of 2011 blossomed into a beautiful collection of epistolary poetry.
This reprint of Lace & Letters from Two Gardens by Get Fresh Books Publishing comprises all of its original poetry and includes an interview published by The Margins titled, "Our Wholeness, Our A Conversation with Aimee Nezhukumatathil & Ross Gay."
Ross Gay is the author of four books of Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. His New York Times best-selling collection of essays, The Book of Delights, was released by Algonquin Books in 2019. Ross is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project. He also works on The Tenderness Project with Shayla Lawson and Essence London. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Ross teaches at Indiana University.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the New York Times best-selling author of WORLD OF IN PRAISE OF FIREFLIES, WHALE SHARKS, & OTHER ASTONISHMENTS, finalist for the Kirkus Prize in non-fiction, and recently named the Barnes and Noble Book of the Year. She is also the author of four books of poetry, and is poetry editor of SIERRA, the national magazine of the Sierra Club. Awards for her writing include a fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Council, Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for poetry, National Endowment of the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Her writing has appeared in NYTimes Magazine, ESPN Magazine, and twice in Best American Poetry. She is professor of English and Creative Writing in the University of Mississippi's MFA program.

Genres: Poetry, Nature, 21st Century, Gardening, Nonfiction, Adult

17 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Ross Gay is an American poet, essayist, and professor who won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for his 2014 book Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry.

His honors include being a Cave Canem Workshop fellow and a Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Tuition Scholar, and he received a grant from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.

He is an associate professor of poetry at Indiana University and teaches in Drew University’s low-residency MFA program in poetry. He also serves on the board of the Bloomington Community Orchard.

Reviews

[julia chang]

I desperately want to read this chapbook but I can’t find it anywhere !! Not at the library...the link to the publishing press is broken...and its Twitter is no longer active...not even sold on am*zon. does anybody have advice for finding hard-to-find books??????????????????

[Laura (booksnob) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little volume of poetry is a gem. It is written by two poets who began a poem correspondence through the mail. I love this innovative idea. Their poems focus on the garden, the seasons and nature. All the poems are lovely and connect beautifully.

I would love to start a poem correspondence with someone. Anyone interested?

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my favorite poets collaborating so sweetly—I recommend reading this collection in a one hour sitting reading each poem twice- and warning, you may be compelled to hug a loved one or cat because some of the lines are so beautiful they will remind you of the utter beauty of the sharing of words and being alive

[Gabrielle Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short and sweet chapbook of poetry correspondence between Ross Gay and Aimee Nezhukumatathil. I loved how they captured the beauty of each season while acknowledging that this nature isn't forever if we don't care for it. I love Ross Gay's writing so much and want to read everything he's ever written. This was my first taste of Aimee Nezhukumatathil's work and I'd definitely like to try more!

[Whitney Huston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these 2 writers. They bring me joy, and keep me going through the dark and terrible days. This is a wonderful bite size book, that gives you a few poems yet offers you a year, without any sense of daunting or being cumbersome. This book gives only a wonderful sense of overwhelming.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful!

[Richard Leis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short chapbook of beautiful epistolary poems between Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Ross Gay. Ostensibly about their individual gardens, the scope of these poets' poems frequently expands in breathtaking ways.

Nezhukamatathil is reading at the University of Arizona Poetry Center next week and I wanted to sample some of her work before then. Pleased to discover in the process a new favorite poet. I also read her Lucky Fish collection tonight and it was equally as wonderful.

[JJ Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these letters to my daughter as she grew in her little isolette at the NICU. It's hard to be calm when your baby is so small in a hospital with fluorescent lights day and night. But Ross and Aimee lent me their words to read my daughter into the new world and bring lush garden life to her sterile room. Thank you, dear poets, for these precious comforts.

You don't have to be a gardener, a poet, or a new mom to love these letters. Read them and feel full of hope and wonder. <3

[Aidan Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this collection, because I so loved A Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, but I was disappointed. These poems are not as carefully crafted as those, nor did they move me in the same way.

[kells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a big poetry reader (although I do lowkey want to get into it even more), but I noticed this thin book of poetry in my school library that seemed easy to get through since it was short and decided to pick it up.

I absolutely LOVE the idea of a poem correspondence. I'm not as much of an intellectual to engage in that with another individual myself, but I love that that was what this book of poetry stemmed from. I also really like how the poetry is formatted into seasons.

This book of poetry is a joy to read. I really did feel like I was witnessing the changing of seasons while reading, as it was portrayed very well. I could feel the connection to nature, the adoration for a garden, the sense of loss and the emotions felt by the authors within the poems. I liked that so many different types of plants were mentioned as well as animals you would see like bees & spring peepers. This book made me feel like I needed to get out and see nature more, lol.

All the poems were special in their own right, but I think the one I like the most would either be R.G's autumn poem or his summer poem. Both were delightful but the autumn one also stood out to me bc we're currently in the autumn season right now! I also prefer his style of writing over A.N.'s.

[Martissa Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a yummy little book, opening up the intimate worlds between friends (both human — and more abundantly more than human). There is something critical about the cultivation, tending and elevation of the relationships between human and more than human people. In a time where all of us are feeling the eminence of environmental collapse, it is our togetherness that can inch us closer to healing — to radical reclaiming of our interdependence. This chapbook is a beautiful gift to that end.

[Alyisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There aren’t many poems in this collaborative collection by Aimee Nezhukumatathil & Ross Gay: only 12. The poets are friends and they write about their gardens, back & forth, responding to one another.

A light pick. Nothing blew me over…but its essence is wholesome, attentive goodness, which is hard to find fault in.

Strangely, my favorite poems were in the “Winter” section, which is, by far, my least favorite season!

[Kimberly Uhuru · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful little chapbook combining two of my favorite things- plants and poems. Gardeners will take special joy in the clever descriptions and the way scenery is captured just so. But I think even those who don’t delight in playing in the soil will connect with this book, because it’s really about the cycle of life.

[amanda abel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful epistolary poetry exchange that I would have loved 20 more pages of. This collection is centered in each poet’s garden and their experience of the seasons as reflected in the natural world around them. In short? Lovely. Makes me want to be in poetry conversation with all my poet pals.

[Dea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a lovely little collection, approachable and fun. And while I enjoyed the poems on their own, I really enjoyed reading the little interview between the poets at the end. Their dedication to finding and sharing joy made my heart lift a little and want to follow their lead.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful ode to nature and gardens! I appreciated the visuals I took away from this read. Soothing, peaceful, and beautiful!

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, just wanted to say that I found it on Lemuria Books if that helps anyone :)

[Abigail Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This correspondence between two poets and friends is beautiful. The poetry truly evokes the seasons through gardens and is a delight to read!

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A (very) short book of poetry that I picked up as a fan of Ross Gay. It was shorter than I anticipated, and due to the epistolary nature it felt more random and diary-like than a book poems.

[Ananya Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet idea and grateful that I got to read this collection <3 [Book #1 of The Sealey Challenge 2021]

[Melissa (PAGEFIFTYFIVE and Bookishfolk) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really beautiful and made me want to get out of bed, in the middle of the night, and walk through the garden.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my favorite poets share a poetic correspondence through four seasons, and the result is a gem of a book.

[Cheryl Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely chapbook of poems that are a conversation between two poets. They take their gardens as inspiration and explore the seasons. I found the poems both accessible and multilayered.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too short. Wanted more.

[Katie Karnehm-Esh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my favorite writers wrote poem letters to each other about their gardens. I could have read 600 more pages of this beautiful garden poems.

[Farah Farooq · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m sure it’s written beautifully but my brain can’t comprehend poetry i’m afraid

[Marcella Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Ross Gay and Amy Nezukamatathil! Lovely poetry.

[Jack Heller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small volume on seasons.

[David Freudenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short book of beautiful poems of gardens and nature by two amazing and wonderful poets. I'm reading it again because it is so short and so lovely. Full of joy!