The Curator of Silence

by Jude Nutter

The title poem—about a group of schoolchildren illustrating Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark"—ends with the following assertion: "these are the only / lessons they will ever need to learn: that life / is not artifact, but aperture—a stepping into / and a falling away; that to sing is to rise / from the grave of the body. And still / say less than nothing." This idea of the aperture, the gap, the silence that exists between what we want to say and what we actually do say pervades The Curator of Silence. The paradox, of course, is that the creation of art itself makes this gap, as there is always a gulf between the impulse and the gesture, the vision and the poem. Nutter's experience of living for two months in the Antarctic, perhaps the greatest silence and solitude possible on earth, is the archetype of silence whose many dimensions she explores in this volume. She considers both literal, obvious silences—death, abandonment, loneliness, the silence into which lost things vanish—and silences of a more mysterious and paradoxical nature: the (mis)perceptions of childhood, the erasures of addiction and brain damage, the isolation of Antarctic explorers, and the seemingly distant, and often fearsome, lives of animals. In the end, this great silence we batter our hearts against—call it the grave or god or the universe or the intimate silence of the white page—is the silence these poems are singing to and with, not against.  
"The Curator of Silence is a wonderful book, both generous and challenging. From the very first page, Jude Nutter asks the reader to join with her in an exploration that curates not only silence but the many varieties of human experience that enliven, threaten, and sometimes deepen that silence. Her poems are imaginative, and their music always feels authentic, as if born from far inside the poem. The voice of the poems speaks from intimacy and demands intimacy from the reader in return. If those poems are sometimes harrowing, they are also redeeming, and leave us strangely renewed. I envy those who have the pleasure of reading her book for the first time." —Jim Moore, author of Lightning at Dinner: Poems
 "These astonishing poems take my breath away with their beauty and deeply held knowledge. Not only are they wedded to the earth as they emerge from the poet's personal mythology, but—like a shawl thrown over the shoulders—they give comfort as they explore the fragile balance between life and death, gain and loss. Here is a poet who speaks subtle truths; I know I'll want to return to her poems again and again." —Judith Minty
 

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2006

Reviews

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had previously heard "Horses" read aloud by Rachel McElroy and enjoyed it. So I thought this book would be the perfect one to read to fill the upper right corner square of Loyola Library's summer bingo card. I found myself enjoying the book, but surprised by some of the themes and messages. A lot of the poems are about death, loneliness, and the burden of having a body. I'm not good at poetry, but I found her poems to be beautiful and I managed to glean a message or at least a feeling from each one, though I wouldn't claim to fully understand a single one. But that's poetry, baby! I would recommend this book to a starting poetry-reader just because I feel like you can work through it as I have but also return to it when you're deeper through you poetry journey and understand even more. It's enjoyable and relatively short, which can also be pluses.

[Elyse]

I have this habit of appraising books of poetry by joining their very first and last lines, to see how the trajectory plays out. Nutter's first/last line couplet reads as follows:

"Out here, in darkness, rain knocks/ just enough like paradise"

It's delightfully fitting for a collection that circumnavigates and divines the corporeal and failing world through its silences, without a shred of lamentation.

Her tree sequence, from "March 2003, and My Father Remembers the War" is one of my favorites.

[Sunny D · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous recommendation from the beloved and esteemed Rachel Mcelroy 💕

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I give this one six stars out of a possible five?

I came to this book after reading (and loving) a poem of Nutter's in a recent volume of the Best American Poetry. I had no idea how blown away I would be by the voice that I found.

This poetry is intensely beautiful, earthly yet other-worldly... Though the collection concerns itself with death, primarily, there is such vibrancy, such "life" to the lines. This is necessary poetry and something I would highly recommend to any of my friends. I rank this collection up there with the best of Levis and Fairchild - my two favorite poets. I absolutely cannot wait to read more by Nutter. I was left breathless by these poems.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such long and lovely poems, beautiful images, well deserving of the Minnesota Book Award. Of course, I must admit my bias: she is my instructor through Intermedia's Writer-to-Writer Mentorship project, and a wonderful one at that.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Curator of Silence-- by Jude Nutter-- I met the author at a poetry reading in college, and it was amazing to hear her read them! Love this collection! Happy Reading!