Our Sudden Museum

by Robert Fanning

With elegies to a brother, sister and father at the core, Robert Fanning's third poetry collection examines what sustains in us in spite of loss. In richly sonic and poignant lyrics, we witness the wilder forces beyond our bastions of safety-of the beauty and devastation that we cannot contain and to which we eventually succumb. In poems alternately harrowing and humorous, bright and bittersweet, Fanning looks beyond grief to his children and the world to come, in a tenacious celebration of both impermanence and of what endures. Robert Fanning is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, MI.

82 pages, Paperback

Published August 8, 2017

About the author

Robert Fanning is the author of five full-length poetry collections: All We Are Given We Cannot Hold (Dzanc Books, 2025), Severance (Salmon Poetry, 2019), Our Sudden Museum (Salmon Poetry, 2017), American Prophet (Marick Press, 2009), and The Seed Thieves (Marick Press, 2006). In addition, he is the author of four chapbooks: The Good Sea (Red Flag Poetry, 2026), Prince of the Air (Seven Kitchens Press, 2024), Sheet Music (Three Bee Press, 2015), and Old Bright Wheel (2002 Ledge Press Poetry Award). His poems have appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, Shenandoah, Gulf Coast and other journals. He is a Professor of Creative Writing at Central Michigan University. He is also the founder and facilitator of the Wellspring Literary Series in Mt. Pleasant, MI.

To read his work, visit www.robertfanning.wordpress.com.

Reviews

[Sean Kottke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong, cathartic collection

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn Fanning, this hit me like a ton of bricks.