The Land of Stone and River: Poems

by Claudia Putnam

Winner of the 2020 Moon City Poetry Award The Land of Stone and River explores the wonder and terror of being human in a world both at its apex (in this period of between the earth’s various traceable ends, anyway) and tipping at the brink of another major extinction event. People are small beings in a vast, ungraspable landscape of geography, time, and disaster—at the mercy of wind, tangled in history, caught in illness that can seem as inexorable as weather, tide, or geology. We persist. And the world with us.
 

96 pages, Paperback

Published March 11, 2022

About the author

I grew up in New Hampshire but have lived my adult life in Colorado, where I raised my son. I've worked in software marketing, taught comp-rhetoric, been a journalist, sold antiques, cooked greasy food. I studied International Affairs and Russian as an undergraduate and also some comparative religion and Native American studies in graduate school. I like to be outside. I write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, appearing in many literary magazines. A novel, STRONG BROWN GOD, is underway. Debut, prizewinning poetry collection, The Land of Stone and River, can be preordered here. A poetry chapbook, Wild Thing in Our Known World, is available from Finishing Line Press.

Reviews

[Claudia Putnam]

Doing that tacky thing and rating my own book.

[Len Joy]

I am not a poet and it is a little out of my comfort zone to review poetry. I feel I’m often missing the point. And no doubt that is true with this brilliant collection by Claudia Putnam.

This is a beautiful book. Visually appealing – the cover, the paper quality, the font. – it’s art. And of course, more importantly the writing just blows me away.

Some of the poems are clearly above my pay grade – but even when I don’t fully grasp the meaning, the scenes and feeling conveyed leave a profound impression.

There is sadness and poignancy and beauty throughout. Highly recommended. For everyone.

[Jonathan L.Chu]

Compelling and accessible exploration of the natural world and spirit. Accessible for me who is a non-reader of poetry.