Poetry. Chosen by the Poetry Foundation as one of the best poetry books of 2009. Jennifer Moxley's CLAMPDOWN captures a time of political despair and self-doubt. Our "so-called common ground" erodes where liberal thought, implicated in the systems it critiques, finds no traction and becomes the site of new divisions. Against the reality of distant wars, everyday pleasures—even love itself—become frayed by anxiety and shame. Likewise, the past and the future prove unstable, both close to oblivion in a "maddeningly quiescent landscape" of winter. Throughout Clampdown, Moxley responds to the evanescence of both life and art with all her poetic resources, at times declamatory and incisive, at others "freely espousing" and conversational.

Author Hometown: ORONO, ME USA



About the author: Jennifer is a poet, essayist, teacher and translator. Her books of poetry include CLAMPDOWN, THE LINE, OFTEN CAPITAL, and THE SENSE RECORD. She is the poetry editor for The Baffler and a contributing editor of The Poker. She teaches at the University of Maine.

Reviews:
Ange Mlinko in The Nation
Third Factory's Attention Span 2009
Best Poetry of 2009 @ Harriet
Theobald @ Loads of Learned Lumber
Rob Stanton in Jacket
Christopher Schmidt in Boston Review
Matthew Ladd @ West Branch Wired