Still: Poems

by Sandra Meek

In her fierce new collection, poet Sandra Meek subverts Renaissance still-life painting in order to illuminate the perhaps irreparable natural and cultural harm inflicted by colonial forces, even those that manage to create a certain beauty from imperial spoils. Still re-imagines the Renaissance concept of the studiolo , a room displaying cabinets of wonder, each juxtaposing human-made art objects, such as miniature still-life paintings, with natural ones―harbingers of the coming wonders and catastrophes of travel brought back from distant lands Europeans claimed as “discoveries.” These poems shimmer with the wonders of the natural and aesthetic worlds―and in doing so, reckon with environmental, colonial, and sexual violence, with the oppression of silencing as well as the reclamation of voice. In confronting violations of body, family, culture, and nature, Still gives voice and image not only to what is still, what has been stilled, and what is in danger of being forever stilled, but also to the marvel of survival.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2020

About the author

Sandra Meek was born in Texas, grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, and has lived in Rome, Georgia, since 1996. Her most recent book of poems, Still (Persea Books, 2020), was named a “New & Noteworthy Poetry Book” by The New York Times Book Review. Of Still, The New York Times writes: “Meek’s prescient poetry has long dwelled darkly on humanity’s environmental impact; in this book, the tone has grown urgent, even apocalyptic.” Her seventh collection, Bind, is forthcoming from Persea Books in January 2027. Other titles include An Ecology of Elsewhere (Persea, 2016), Road Scatter (Persea, 2012), and Biogeography, winner of the Dorset Prize (Tupelo 2008), as well as an edited anthology, Deep Travel: Contemporary American Poets Abroad, awarded an Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal. Recipient of an NEA Fellowship in Poetry, the Poetry Society of America’s Lucille Medwick Memorial Award, three Georgia Author of the Year awards, and two Peace Corps Writers awards (Meek served in Manyana, Botswana, 1989-1991), she is Poetry Editor of the Phi Kappa Phi Forum and Dana Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing at Berry College.

Reviews

[mike f. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5***

this was definitely a collection that i read. what i like about this collection is that it's a great coffee table book; the cover is stunning, and if you read this out loud to anyone or if anyone picked it up and read a poem from it, they would think you're super educated and big brain cause there are a lot of big words in this one. i was enjoying it up until there were some problematic things written that i don't think a white woman should be saying (e.g. ch*nk) that's when i really lost it there. unfortunately, i only read like three problematic things, so you're kinda lucky i'm even giving this 3.5 stars. pretty good read overall, just procrastinated reading this a lot and then was disappointed by some language when i picked it back up. will still be putting this on my coffee table though. too pretty to give up.

[Penn Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Day 4. Sandra Meek, Still: poems. Marvellous!
#31outof31 #sealeychallenge #31Books31Days #31BooksInAugust @SealeyChallenge @Nic_Sealey @bookgaga @emily_allan_poe
The Renaissance studiolo, a room displaying a wonder, each juxtaposing human-made art objects, such as miniature still-life paintings, with natural ones—harbingers of the coming wonders and catastrophes of travel brought back from distant lands Europeans claimed as “discoveries.”

[Emory Frie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that I heard Dr. Meek's steady, rhythmic voice throughout the whole book. Beautiful word choices and pairings! My favorite poems were "Still, With Severed Tongue" (it still creeps me out, but it's equally fascinating) and "Still, With Judas Goats."

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider Sandra Meek to be a poet's poet--word drunk, skilled in craft, and ambitious in content and subject matter. Her collection Still makes my jaw drop in amazement at her poetic pyrotechnics!

[Lorna Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written with exquisite detail and expertise...