Kirjahaku

For years Jan Seale’s carefully crafted poetry has captivated audiences with its wit, sharp diction, and seamlessness. This eighth volume of the Texas Poets Laureate series discovers the eternal in the transient—coupling the mythological with the present, the spiritual with the sensual, the joyful with the sorrowful. This riveting collection of work, both new and old, celebrates her broad achievements as a poet. Designated the 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, Seale reveres poetry as “the most elegant and most historic of our verbal arts.” Seale’s lifelong love of poetry (she began writing at the age of six) is apparent in this volume. Her work has been described as whittled and sharp, witty and serious. Her precise diction and visual imagery probe themes that range from spiritual faith to women, family, aging, and nature itself. This collection of work is a testament to Seale’s skill, craft, and dedication to the art of poetry.

Jan Seale's journey in language has produced here a miscellany of observations, how-to's, examples, and anecdotes by one who has spent six decades writing and teaching the art of writing. From Frightening Words to Five Versions of a Poem from Babysitting the Imagination to Porch Light Titles, this collection offers practical words to the novice writer as well as a touchstone of reflection to the experienced one.

In this volume, Jan Seale contemplates small things. Think peppercorns, straight pins, freckles. Think fingernails, commas, stamps. These objectshave their own raison d����etre. Here are the small sublime, the Lilliputian laughable, the diminutive dear. Relish their existence. Their essence andstanding may be important beyond our or their knowing.