The Human Abstract

by Elizabeth Willis

"The Human Abstract", writers Lauterbach, "returns the abstract to the essence of language, reviving our ears to the essential music of our humanity. In this music, we begin to construct for ourselves a dwelling made of incidents whose origins are as near as Sappho's celebrated fragments, Dickinson's wonderful prisms....This is poetry of amazing intelligence and grace.

Genres: Poetry

83 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Elizabeth Willis’s most recent book is Alive: New and Selected Poems (New York Review Books, 2015). Her other books of poetry include Address (Wesleyan University Press, 2011), recipient of the PEN New England / L. L. Winship Prize for Poetry; Meteoric Flowers (Wesleyan University Press, 2006); Turneresque (Burning Deck, 2003); The Human Abstract (Penguin, 1995); and Second Law (Avenue B, 1993). She also writes about contemporary poetry and has edited a volume of essays entitled Radical Vernacular: Lorine Niedecker and the Poetics of Place (University of Iowa Press, 2008). A recent Guggenheim fellow, she has held residencies at Brown University, the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, and the Centre International de Poésie, Marseille, and has been a visiting poet at University of Denver, Naropa University, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. From 1998-2002 she was Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at Mills College. Since 2002 she has taught at Wesleyan University, where she is Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing.

Reviews

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the sense that sentiment resides somewhere between language, I took care with this book. However, in the sense that language cannot successfully condense without some context, I debated the book. Unfortunately, it seems the book won.

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://rantsravesreviews.homestead.co...

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the type of poetry that confirms there is poetry I just don’t get.