Jennifer Lagier

Citing inaugural poet Amanda Gorman in a poem aptly named "Resilience," "there is power in being robbed & still choosing to dance," Lagier overcomes an early, abusive marriage described in the often harrowing first section. Later in life she finds solace in a celebration of nature, then transcendence in the final section, "Moonstruck." Lagier is that rare poet whose personal, emotional closure provides a meaningful context with universal implications that is neither sentimental nor preachy. Overcoming obstacles and choosing a path that leads to a positive resolution is always a winning combination.-Alan Catlin poet, How Will the Heart Endure?In Jennifer Lagier's latest collection, Illuminations, we follow a poetic journey that starts in Seattle, 1969, through early years of youth, growth and change, culminating in the strength of perseverance that's resides in all of us. With an abundance of skill and breathtaking imagery, Lagier showcases her talent for merging physical and emotional worlds, to help us better connect with ourselves, and others. Whether it's a full moon over Sausalito, or a Harvest moon in mid-autumn, these poems showcase depth, grace, and-ultimately-healing. Beautifully written, this may be her strongest-and deepest-collection to date.-Cathy Porter, author of The Dash Between UsJennifer Lagier has always been a keen observer of nature, with a poet's eye for nuance, spectacle and spirit, and the very human implications of our relationship to the world. In this collection, birds-herons, cormorants, pelicans, night owls, Canada geese and acorn woodpeckers among them-and the moon-full moon, harvest moon, blood moon, winter moon, nighttime's lunar chanteuse, platinum moonlight, astral lunacy-take center stage, along with celestial chameleons, bawdy raccoons, and heat-seeking dogs. Lagier's poetry pulses with life, harmonizing with the world around us, "a brightness that can reveal wicked deeds requiring darkness" or the compelling visions that give our lives meaning. Illuminations, indeed.-Charles Rammelkamp, author of See What I Mean? and The Trapeze of Your Flesh

Weeping in the Promised Land is, on one hand, a meditation on our troubled, fractured nation at this deeply contentious, historic inflection point, and, on the other, a deeply personal evocation of her troubled personal relationships. This wide-ranging collection progresses beyond politics and a seemingly perpetual chaos, to a more settled, satisfying existence. Ekphrastic poems celebrate nature, laying the groundwork for a place of contentment: gardening, daily scenic walks and, ultimately, the reflective work of writing.-Alan Catlin poet, Exterminating AngelsPart the autobiography of a woman in contemporary America, part social commentary, Jennifer Lagier's lyrical collection is a powerful reminder that we live in fraught times. Lagier addresses a catalogue of calamities: the insanity of guns in the United States-"Nothing is Normal Here," indeed-climate change, Ukraine, the underlying patriarchy. She writes in the title poem: "As America tears itself in two, / I find myself terrified, / too dispirited to mingle / despite pandemic's easing."But there are also breathtaking pictures of nature-blackbirds, wild turkeys, the Pacific Ocean-and the acknowledgment of love that, though not loud, is life-sustaining/ Lagier writes in "Unspoken" "At night, we fit together like lips / protecting a secret, proclaim infinite love / in intimate silence."-Charles Rammelkamp, author of The Field of Happiness, A Magician Among the Spirits, and Transcendence Weeping in the Promised Land is a passionate, thoughtful collection of poetry abundant in carefully detailed imagery. Powered by propulsive verbs in parallel structure and deliberate asyndeton, these poems by Jennifer Lagier bring a forceful conscience to bear on memory, politics, and art. Perspectives of experience, perseverance, and determination reveal the poet's commitment to truth in verses that reflect tenderness and fury, gratitude and strength.-Linda Scheller, author of Fierce Light and Wind & Children

Jennifer Lagier lives a block from the Monterey stage where Janis Joplin performed and Jimi Hendrix torched his guitar. She served as Area Coordinator and instructor with California Poets in the Schools, taught at Modesto Junior College, California State University Monterey Bay, Hartnell College and Monterey Peninsula College. Jennifer has published twenty books and has work appearing in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines. Blue Light Press published her full-length poetry collections Harbingers and Meditations on Seascapes and Cypress. Her forthcoming book, Weeping in the Promised Land will be published in Fall 2023 by Kelsay Books. A former editor for the Homestead Review, she now edits the Monterey Poetry Review and helps coordinate Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium Second Saturday readings.

Travel through time, geography, and culture with Jennifer Lagier's irreverent anti-hero, Camille.This collection takes you along for a wild ride as she traverses the wilds of Big Sur, the Barbary Coast, Spain, and her cottage near Monterey Bay. Camille presents a wry look at love and the ravages of age, politics, and pandemics. These poems invite the reader to join her bawdy, acerbic, humorousjourney as Camille, like so many women in America now, refuses to go down without a fight.

These poems aptly show profoundly imaginative power. No doubt, the poet is an adept in the intimate and convincing analysis of emotions.

The poems provide an ample proof that the poet is full of powerful imagination and profound feelings. The style in all these poems is quite simple devoid of any artificial vocabulary.

All poems included in the poetry collection successfully explore the deepest emotions of the soul. It is quite remarkable that the poet has discarded the obsolete or worn-out phraseology. The poems are endowed with intense imagination, dreamy grace and subtle suggestion. All these poems become quite charming due to 'maturity, manifested in technique, of feeling in relation to thought'.

The third in the Camille series, CAMILLE MOBILIZES gives us the ever-feisty Camille, a woman who intends to RESIST, both literally and figuratively. Like so many women in America now, Camille refuses to go down without a fight.

In this collection, Lagier offers readers a series of plotlines and protagonists, comparing life experiences to a cheesy, second-rate film. Her reviewers describe a voice full of compassion, endurance, tenderness and melancholy, poems as arrows that pierce the heart. Like a B Movie pushes boundaries with bravura poetry that combines shrewdness, bleak acuity and rueful humor.