Description
Poetry. "A stunningly lyrical consideration of Joan of Arc, the intricacies of her belief and her fate—in Patrick Pritchetts words, this becomes a meditation on belief itself and its power over fate. His language spirals outward, as its sounds hold it in, and at its center, a marvelous woman comes out of myth to be simple and solid and certain. He resists the drama and goes straight for the strangeness, for 'the radiant dial of the skull.'"—Cole Swensen
"In BURN, Jeanne d'Arc's familiarity swerves radically from body-in-flame to a restlessly questioning interior life—a profound and contemporary meditation wherein Patrick Pritchett laminates his own voice to Joan's, struggling (for both) with the forcible claims of 'King' and obedience vs. the radiant uncertainties of angel, fire and error. Brilliantly circuitous and exquisitely pitched, these poems unfold the possibility of an unboundary'd life where uncommonness leads to 'swimming with God.'"—Kathleen Fraser
"Patrick Pritchett's BURN is an incantation where To be called is to be split apart. The act of invoking is equally the act of dismantling. Hearing the call is a re-cognition that obliterates first cognizance. Ancient biblical texts describe a form of 'devotion' in which a place, its goods, even its population, are given so fervently to God as to be utterly destroyed. In this book, Pritchett practices a kenosis (self-emptying) that resounds of a devotion 'orphaned / into nomination / beyond all care.'"—Elizabeth Robinson
Author Bio
Patrick Pritchett was born in South Bend, Indiana and came of age in Southern California. After working in the film industry, he earned his PhD at the University of Colorado- Boulder. He has taught at Harvard University, Amherst College, and Hunan Normal University in China, and currently lectures in English at the University of Connecticut-Hartford. His scholarly work focuses on post- 1945 avant-garde American poetry. Other books of poetry include REFRAIN SERIES (Dos Madres Press, 2020), ORPHIC NOISE (Dos MAdres Press, 2017), SONG X (Talisman House, Publishers, 2014), BURN (Chax Press, 2005), and Gnostic Frequencies.
Author City: EASTHAMPTON, MA USA