Our Classical Heritage: A Homing Device

by Caroline Noble Whitbeck

Poetry. Caroline Noble Whitbeck holds a BA in Classics (Latin) from Harvard College and an MFA from Brown University. OUR CLASSICAL A HOMING DEVICE is the winner of the 2006 Gatewood Prize from Switchback Books. According to judge Arielle Greenberg, "Our Classical Heritage is a pleasurable and witty work, pinned sharply but delicately to reality through images of cultural detritus and evocations of American childhood. The force of the voice here is redoubtable. The world as described may be a dizzying soup of existence, but Caroline Noble Whitbeck can always locate herself." OUR CLASSICAL A HOMING DEVICE is Caroline Noble Whitbeck's first book.

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Caroline Noble Whitbeck's manuscript, Our Classical Heritage: A Homing Device, was the 2006 winner of Switchback Books' Gatewood Prize as selected by judge Arielle Greenberg. She holds a BA in Classics (Latin) from Harvard College and an MFA from Brown University. Born and raised in New York City, she currently resides in Philadelphia, where she is working toward a PhD in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania. Her short play "Woof" was produced off-Broadway as part of the Young Playwrights Festival 2000, and her poems have appeared in or are forthcoming from Horse Less Review, Lumina, Elimae, Cab/Net, and Word For/Word. Our Classical Heritage: A Homing Device is forthcoming in September 2007 from Switchback Books.

Reviews

[Michael Edgerton]

Caroline Whitbeck is a whipper-cracker and a fire-snapper! Reading these poems is like juggling toasters in the bath with a razor in the soapdish. You feel the emotional risk at every sharp, electric turn of line or syntax, which keeps restlessly turning, morphing, tossing its words in the air to keep afloat-- These poems spark and sting in the most delicious way. I advise those with heart problems to read it wearing rubber boots.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read several poems in various journals and enjoyed them, so glad to say I liked this book. Quick poems, associative, sound-driven, playful lines. Occasionally I was like "what the fuck is going on here!?" but I'd absolutely rather feel that way than bored. A good collection to keep you on your toes.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book changed the way I write. I loved it. My review can be found at Arsenic Lobster : http://arseniclobster.magere.com/arch...