Foreign Graces

by Laurie Block

When Laurie Block travelled to Chile, he found himself living his life in translation. Speaking, working, and forging new friendships entirely in Spanish, Block found that the new language altered his imaginative vision. As he began to compose poetry in Spanish, he developed his belief that all human language is like "a hand stretched out/to the fallen body," all poetry "a name for what can’t be grasped." Foreign Graces presents poems first conceived in the poet’s second language. This book explores the gaps and the risks, the moments of collision and the moments of epiphany, that occur when language barriers are broken. Block explores the rough edges where two cultures meet with compelling humility and a strong faith in the power of human communication.

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 1999