To Make It Right

by Corrinne Clegg Hales

Winner of the 2010 Autumn House Poetry Contest, selected by Claudia Emerson. In her fifth collection of poetry, Hales mines the layers of grief and discovers how to surive in a broken world.

Genres: Poetry

First published February 28, 2011

Reviews

[Naseem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books of poetry I've ever read. Assigned for class, but remarkable and elegant and heart-wrenching. Definitely not an easy read, but one that's gorgeously rendered, whose mini-narratives break your heart and make you sit with the pieces. Highly, highly recommend.

Content note for violence against animals (and people), murder, and familial death

[Tom Romig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivid, relentlessly honest, and often moving poems that engage heart and head. Corrinne Clegg Hales is a vital voice, a real pleasure to read.

[Johnny Cordova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well crafted and accessible. A rarer combination than one would think. An enjoyable read.

[Richard Spilman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading this lovely book of narrative poetry. The difficulty with poems that explore the author's personal and historical past is to maintain a poetic and intellectual discipline while writing in a style that implies a familiar storyteller. The lives evoked are fascinating in themselves, but it is the virtuosity that is most fun to watch.

[Julía Bade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing.