Everwhen: poems

by Anne Barngrover

Everwhen is an anxious, verdant poetry collection that is preoccupied with a chthonic era―when the secrets of long ago catch up to now, and when the past, present, and future collapse into what's long been identified by indigenous cultures and early naturalists as Uncreation or Deep Time. Driven by the voice of the betrayed Roman goddess Ceres, these poems consider what it is like to live out of time, to suffer unnamed illnesses of the female body, to love and grieve at the end of the world, and to even find hope and joy in “the way an apocalypse can mean/ to reveal.”

80 pages, Paperback

Published March 14, 2023

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every poem is a banger. Good balance of beauty and substance. I kept waiting for some lower quality poems to drop into the mix but the writing was killer throughout.

Only downside is the cover is colorful and my toddler loves it. It should be easy to hide a book from a toddler but it’s not.

This is now one of my all time favorite poetry books. Highly recommend.

[Amie Whittemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it's true that Anne's a friend of mine, it's also true this book is stunning. I wish I'd written it. She examines ecological collapse through the eyes of Ceres, reimagined into our 21st century climate crisis. Alongside these poems are more personal ones considering both climate grief and other griefs--the grief of long, complicated illness/health issues, the grief of losing friends. And yet--alongside these poems that don't back down from the challenges of being alive are poems that engage with the tenderness of new love and the wonders of the living things around us, human and not. Truly a triumph. Add it to your list.