Sequence

by A.F. Moritz

The latest collection from Griffin Poetry Prize-winning poet A. F. Moritz.


In Sequence, the reader accompanies the poet step after step and breath after breath through a haunting and mercurial world that shimmers like sun on sand. Alternating moments of spare clarity with deep narrative flashes, the poem wanders the borders of the self, pursuing the eternal moment through imagined landscapes and the lush world waiting outside the writer's window. This is poetry of intense observation, finely tuned to a pattern that is sustained with breaks and returns, alive with eros and a hunger for Breton's "convulsive beauty."



Sequence dazzles as it seeks the great mystery, while remaining fully invested in our life of contingency and time.

Genres: Poetry

168 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2015

About the author

A.F. Moritz has published more than twenty collections of poetry as well as important works of literary history and numerous translations of Latin American verse. A leading figure in the literary life of Canada, he has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a major award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Two of his most recent works have reaffirmed his reputation: Night Street Repairs (2004) received the ReLit Award and The Sentinel (2008) won both the Bess Hokin Prize from Poetry magazine and the Griffin Poetry Prize. He teaches at the University of Toronto.

Reviews

[Brittany]

Loved this collection of poetry and how interconnected each work was.

[Margaryta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again I’m reminded how incredibly lucky I am to have taken a class with Professor Moritz, for his poetry is truly amazing. “Sequence” was by far the best of his collections I’ve read so far as it is precisely the style of poetry I love most. The book is divided into several sections, some of which have a rather plot-like progression to them while others are united by a sense of urgency and emotion. What all these poems have in common is their ability to build an atmosphere that swallows the reader and effortlessly snatches up one’s attention. I imagine the best way to appreciate “Sequence” would be to sit outside on a warm summer night, with someone you care deeply for right next to you as you both take turns reading these poems out loud, for that is where they belong — to be mingling with the air and wind, released back to the very nature and desert which they speak of, while at the same time touching upon and capturing that complex, dream quality to our own human existence that is easily overlooked or taken for granted. This collection makes the world both slow down and speed up as you read it, taking you on a dangerous journey while simultaneously wrapping you in a warm blanket and taking you by the hand, quietly promising to bring you back enlightened.