What do you think?
Rate this book
Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry
Re-entry: Poems
Michael White’s poetry is unusual for its loving patience in imagining how human predicaments feel. Using a striking variety of measures, his meditations attempt to re-enact the grain of consciousness as it plays out, from elegy to simple joy.
- GenresPoetry
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Michael White
6 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Originally from Missouri, I had the enormous good fortune to study with the legendary Larry Levis as an undergraduate at the University of Missouri and also as a doctoral student at the University of Utah (PhD, 1993). Since 1994, I’ve lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, and taught at The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where I currently serve as Chair of the Creative Writing Department. My books are the poetry collections The Island from Copper Canyon, Palma Cathedral (winner of the Colorado Prize, judged by Mark Strand), Re-entry (winner of the Vassar Miller Prize, judged by Paul Mariani), and Vermeer in Hell (winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Editors Prize). Most recently, I also have a memoir, Travels in Vermeer, from Persea Books. I have published poetry and prose in The Paris Review, The New Republic, The Kenyon Review, The Best American Poetry, among many other magazines and anthologies. My teaching awards at UNCW include the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the UNCW Graduate Mentor Award. I have a daughter named Sophia.
Originally from Missouri, I had the enormous good fortune to study with the legendary Larry Levis as an undergraduate at the University of Missouri and also as a doctoral student at the University of Utah (PhD, 1993). Since 1994, I’ve lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, and taught at The University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where I currently serve as Chair of the Creative Writing Department. My books are the poetry collections The Island from Copper Canyon, Palma Cathedral (winner of the Colorado Prize, judged by Mark Strand), Re-entry (winner of the Vassar Miller Prize, judged by Paul Mariani), and Vermeer in Hell (winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Editors Prize). Most recently, I also have a memoir, Travels in Vermeer, from Persea Books. I have published poetry and prose in The Paris Review, The New Republic, The Kenyon Review, The Best American Poetry, among many other magazines and anthologies. My teaching awards at UNCW include the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the UNCW Graduate Mentor Award. I have a daughter named Sophia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 16, 2010
Ever finish a collection of poetry and then read the reviews and just think somehow you read a different book? Or maybe (shudder) you just didn't "get" it?
That's basically how I feel upon finishing Re-entry and reading all of the glowing reviews - particularly those that praise the deep emotion contained in these poems. Somehow that was lost on me and I am typically a reader that prefers emotive poetry over a poetry more strictly based on intellect and language.
It is that reason, primarily, that this collection didn't resonate with me, most likely. I felt, often, that White used larger words not because they fit the natural rhythms of the poem, but to prove the vastness of his intellect through his massive vocabulary. To be fair, I prefer poetry with a simple diction that finds depth through an original way of looking at events and emotion. The failing, then, could quite possibly be with me.
On the other hand, I thought "Flood Year" was a fantastic poem and really liked several others ("the levee" and "mid-air" among them).
Who knows? Maybe deep down, I'm just jealous that he studied under Larry Levis. I would have loved to meet that man....
That's basically how I feel upon finishing Re-entry and reading all of the glowing reviews - particularly those that praise the deep emotion contained in these poems. Somehow that was lost on me and I am typically a reader that prefers emotive poetry over a poetry more strictly based on intellect and language.
It is that reason, primarily, that this collection didn't resonate with me, most likely. I felt, often, that White used larger words not because they fit the natural rhythms of the poem, but to prove the vastness of his intellect through his massive vocabulary. To be fair, I prefer poetry with a simple diction that finds depth through an original way of looking at events and emotion. The failing, then, could quite possibly be with me.
On the other hand, I thought "Flood Year" was a fantastic poem and really liked several others ("the levee" and "mid-air" among them).
Who knows? Maybe deep down, I'm just jealous that he studied under Larry Levis. I would have loved to meet that man....
April 27, 2009
Pomegranate Books (www.pombooks.net - shameless promotion on my part) had a poetry reading for three recently published UNCW poetry professors: Michael White, Jill Gerard & Lavonne Adams. Mike White blew me away with his reading of two poems, including the title poem, from this award-winning collection. There are some incredibly emotional core issues at stake in this collection, including the death of his father and his struggles with alcoholism. The images are stunning and well-rendered. This is a collection I will be revisiting as inspiration for my own writing. Great stuff from a local - yet nationally recognized - poet.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews