Fortification Resort

by Lynn Crawford

Poetry. Inspired by artworks and originating from her work writing art reviews, Lynn Crawford's collection of prose sestinas is her way of "prolonging engagement" with what she is not ready to leave. She says, "I do not attempt to explicate the artworks, but do try to establish a certain form of exchange between the artist and myself... Viewing art, talking and writing about it, generates a richly collaborative dialogue." Crawford looked for a formal structure to inform this project as a whole and found it in the sestina, a poetic form that relies upon six recurring keywords, six lines, six stanzas. "FORTIFICATION RESORT's multi-perspectival prose proposes imagined worlds contiguously saturated by modes of nourishment and shapes of loss. Crawford's structured improvisations delineate microclimates of strangeness, civility, fullness, and insufficiency within human community. Her quirky sentences are remarkably palpable and personal, bringing the reader crazy-quilt close to object meeting skin

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynn Crawford writes with absolute assurance. Intelligence, wit, and brillliant language. Crawfords ability to weave fine detail and ephemeral insight are awe-inspiring.