The Familiar Wild: On Dogs & Poetry

by Ruth Awad (editor), Rachel Mennies (Editor)

What does it mean for a poet to love a dog—especially knowing it will never outlive them? The Familiar Wild: On Dogs & Poetry catapults readers into the marrows of living and feeling alongside our mysterious canines: a species that often teaches us about what it means to be human.

These selections, as chosen by Ruth Awad and Rachel Mennies, interrogate our lives as they’ve intertwined with humanity’s most beloved house companion. What catalyzes our hunger in wanting to share our vulnerabilities and lived realities with these curious, interdependent animals.

Writers, including Chen Chen, Noah Baldino, Hanif Abdurraqib, Carly Joy Miller, Maggie Smith, and Raena Shirali, among others, grapple with the simultaneous heaviness, happiness, love, and loss that comes with dog companionship, exposing deep truths about what it means to share space with our fellow non-humans. This collection examines both the routine and the unexpected lives this anthology’s poets have built with their dogs, exploring wildness and domestication, boundaries and freedom, rescue and grief through works centered on the complicated, expansive writer-to-canine connection.

Genres: Poetry

140 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2020

Reviews

[Courtney LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often struggle with anthologies as I find I don't consistently like the poems chosen. This was NOT the case for this anthology - there were so many poems I really liked and even loved. The editors clearly took their time and made difficult choices with the poems.

from Ars Poetica (the first poem in the anthology): "light fracturing across the universe like a weed / breaking through concrete. / lovers throwing their bodies into the seams / of one another, stitching with gold thread. / writers putting their dogs in their poems / knowing they will outlive their dogs. / that if they put their dogs in their poems / the dogs will still die. still: to write a poem / is a forward motion. if you are alive / another day and another day, that, too / is forward motion." ~ C. Sinclaire Brown

from Xenia: "Hearing / the jangling of his tags I knew the gods / had chosen me to praise him for his journey, / offer food and water, a place to sleep." ~ Tara Betts

from Pep Talk: "But yes, that's how the dead speak: / a gurgle here, a grumble. If the dog pressed her ear to / my gut, I swear she'd hear a hallelujah." ~ Noah Baldino

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am engaging collection of poetry about dogs and their role in each poet’s lives. I appreciated the fact that this collection included lesser known poets and a wide range of diverse voices. I particularly enjoyed the poems by Hanif Abdurraqib and Nina Sudhakar.