Poetry. "In Barbara Tomash's beautifully latticed prose poem series, FLYING IN WATER, the reader is treated to the inner workings of a writer thinking about what it means to be a woman in language. One is reminded of Virginia Woolf's The Waves, in which the dazzling thoughts of fictive narrators push language closer to truth. The 'she' of Tomash's suite of poems is alert to all the clarity of living and its complex shadows. These poems are gem-like, using 'her voice's cool sleeve,' 'the perfect tool to hammer white open.' And in all of the poems there is also the weight of eternity, of worlds continuing after this particular voices has ended"--Maxine Chernoff.

Author Hometown: Berkeley, CA USA



About the author: Barbara Tomash was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Los Angeles. She worked extensively as a multimedia artist before her creative interests turned her toward writing. In 1998, she received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, where she now teaches. Her poetry has appeared widely in literary journals, including New American Writing, Colorado Review, and ZYZZYVA. An earlier version of Flying in Water was a finalist for the Autumn House Press Book Award and a semi-finalist for the Slope Editions Book Prize and the Nightboat Poetry Prize. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband and son.