Sweet Lorain

by Bruce Weigl

Winner of the 2006 Lannan Foundation Award for Poetry

As an elegist of the lives of those who have been changed by hardship and suffering, and especially by war, Bruce Weigl has become one of the most admired American poets of his generation. In this collection, he returns not only to Vietnam but to the Lorain, Ohio, of his youth. In his continued quest for emotional and spiritual enlightenment, Weigl writes about the connections between his childhood in a working-class world and the powerful effects of the American war in Vietnam on all of us.

Genres: Poetry

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Marc Mannheimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poem themes run from brutal to brilliant, dazzling. A tinge of homesickness and wonder and awful discovery in a foreign land. These short narrative poems were written in a cutting, Zen like form, modern, but not incomprehensible, the stories remaining intact.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read many of his poetry books but I’ve enjoyed each one. Through their depth, the poems explore war trauma and its effects. I’ll have to read more.