An Open Book: Poems

by Orson Scott Card

The first collection of poems by one of the world's best-loved writers. Orson Scott Card, the author of Ender's Game, Enchantment, and the Alvin Maker series, did not originally plan to write fiction. He spent his journeyman years as a playwright. Before that, however, it was poetry that engaged his pen. Never content to write just one thing, Card has continued writing poetry along with his more well-known work in other forms. He has submitted little of it for publication, because there are no journals that seem to welcome the kind of poetry he values. An Open Book, Card's first published collection, is selected from thirty-five years of poems. The title reflects his attitude that this book and all the poems in it remain works in progress. It also reflects Card's commitment to clarity, especially in poetry. As he says in his "To be clear and yet also say something worth saying is what I believe poets should strive for. "The first reading should reward the reader. If later readings reveal new insights, so much the better; but if the first reading did not achieve Dryden's recipe of sweetness and light, why should a reader return for a second pass?" Being an open book, this audiobook edition also features poems not included in the original print.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

94 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2004

About the author

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.

Reviews

[Liz Busby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always seem to start my poetry reviews with a warning that I'm not much of a poetry reader, so maybe I should stop. I grabbed this on a lark along with all the literary criticism on Card for a project I was working on. I remember Card coming to BYU on book tour for this book back when I was in undergrad and was absolutely binging through his back catalog. I never ended up picking up this one, though.

I don't know whether undergrad-me would have enjoyed this collection, but present-me did. There are some speculative poems about the apocalypse and others that are clearly inspired by his own life. The poems about the death of his daughter and son are absolutely heartbreaking. I don't know how to compare it to other poetry, but as Card's goal was to write poetry that worked for average readers, I think he succeeded for me.

[Joshua]

A few poems in this collection touched my heart deeper than I've felt from any other poems.

As someone who is not, and likely never will be, a student of poetry, I greatly appreciate the sentiment of the following statement in the afterward: "To be clear and yet also say something worth saying is what I believe poets should strive for." Of course, that doesn't mean I understood more than a tenth of the poems, but that's largely on me.

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really, REALLY love Orson Scott Card in general. And I really like both how he gives so much insight into his poems in the book, and also how the poems themselves are accessible and able to be understood on their own without any background information. His poems about grief hit the hardest, but ultimately not that hard for me. The long form poem that has a memento mori theme is also decent. All things considered, it's not a bad use of time, but I also don't feel like a person who skips this book is missing out on anything vital.

[Christian Rauh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite poem was "to one not poisoned yet"

[Cheryl Licata · Rating 4 out of 5]

#6 Under 200 pages
The author Orson Scott Card is well-known for his book Ender's Game. I discovered recently Card is also a poet, and his poems are well worth reading and reflection. A short poem I really like begins with a question -- Is prophecy a gift you should desire? He answers the question in the three lines that follow. I also like his thoughts in the afterword: "To be clear and yet also say something worth saying is what I believe poets should strive for." I like his collection of 69 poems for that reason.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty stuff - excellent for trying to relax and fall asleep.