Poetry. In SALT MONODY the austerity of Marzanna Kielar's mindscape compels with its monochromic intensity. Her poems insistently return to northern Poland, cataloguing the sea, fog, wind, lakes, rivers, woods, fields, and crows. "My first homeland is a post-German landscape," she acknowledges, "with wild rose bushes, stone stables, metal window fittings, red roofs." When Kielar speaks about her obligation as a poet, she speaks about bringing home what we tend to call reality, love, and death. Always aware of the risk involved in naming, she strives to bring out of darkness words and their meanings.
Mary Ruefle's poems and prose have appeared in Best American Poetry and The Next American Essay. Her many awards include a Guggenheim and an NEA. She is currently teaching at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.