New Books In Literature

In The Spinning Place (Southern Indiana Review Press, 2019), Chelsea Wagenaar explores the power of language—in terms of its possibilities and what it fails to express. As a being with a body in the world, there are so many experiences that are inexpressible. These poems attempt to touch upon those experiences, relating what it means to have a body, one that carries so many things, from children in the womb to the emotional weight of our relationship to others and the world around us. As Wagenaar lyrically examines everyday moments, her words reach for an ecstatic experience of the sacred. Moon-sliced star-pocked streetlit bleat, coal train moving like its own ghost along the tracks. 2:00, 3:00, my shadow sways as I catch myself, hand on the wall, pulled from bed by your nocturnal haunt, you at your crib rail, blanket clutched, more sound than body. — from “Night Shift”   Chelsea Wagenaar is the author of two collections of poetry, most recently The Spinning Place was winner of the 2018 Michael Waters Prize.