Bath

by Jen Silverman

“Jen Silverman's poems are baptisms of desire. They've traveled the world and come back to tell you the pleasure to be found there, the holes of each leaving, the way it is all 'drenched in light and wine.' Economical in syntax and generous in image, Bath astonishes at every turn with its heart, its wisdom, its waters."



- Traci Brimhall, author of our lady of the ruins





"I have a crush on Jen Silverman's language. This multi-hyphenate wordsmith writes poetry that sings with silver fish scales, bathes in love, hopes for redemption. I'll read with ardor anything Silverman writes, in any genre."



- Sarah Ruhl, playwright of Eurydice

Genres: Poetry

42 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Jen Silverman is a New York-based writer. Born in the U.S., she was raised across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Her theatre work includes The Moors (Yale Repertory Theatre premiere, off-Broadway with The Playwrights Realm, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist); The Roommate (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville Humana world premiere, multiple regional productions including South Coast Rep, SF Playhouse and Williamstown Theatre Festival, upcoming at Steppenwolf); Phoebe In Winter (Off-off Broadway with Clubbed Thumb); Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Woolly Mammoth premiere); and All the Roads Home, a play with songs (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park premiere).

Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, Portland Center Stage, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Jen has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories (The Island Dwellers, pub date May 1, 2018) and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a lot to say about this chap, but I’ll just share some favorite lines: “…the first of the year is always the moment / to set ourselves toward the people we wish we were” (20), “Mornings are your coffee” (19), “You are hungover; I am bruised; the wind / flakes like mica, our skins glitter, / our hair is jeweled with sand” (18), etcetera.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Bath is a small collection of poems. Jen Silverman's play "Witch" was a phenomenal and unexpected find for me this year. I was intrigued by it, and its multifaceted approach to power, characterization, and a Faustian take. Bath, as a poetry collection, explores several different states in which Jen Silverman has traveled, had a moment of clarity, or had a realization. I enjoyed this collection, and while I wish it were longer, it was a fun experience to explore such a small poetry collection. The interview at the back of the collection is also phenomenal, providing insight into Silverman's poetry and her writing process, as well as one of the poem's connections to "Witch."