Sonnets to the Humans (Sawtooth Poetry Prize) - Softcover

Cotler, T. Zachary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1934103365 ISBN 13: 9781934103364

Publisher: Ahsahta Press, 2013

Synopsis

Poetry. Winner of the 2012 Sawtooth Poetry Prize. "This is a wizard's handiwork.... SONNETS TO THE HUMANS stands as one unstoppered bottle for a host of genii, lightning-Nimrods, angel-demons, Ænglisch as demotic, ash as egg. It's a brilliant, intimate, intricate, careening, calibrating, strangely moving collection of 49 poems—pieces introduced and linked by patches of the prose narration of 'a fictional poet who lived in the 21st century' and bore the name of Vishvamitra.... Thus we embark, in part, on an old story—but one re-generated here in ways unheralded, unheard-of. It becomes a futuristic lover's lyrical lament and a recapitulation (or enactment) of the Babel tale; (even thus largely to restrict its scope can only be reductive: it's a book with a very long half-life)."—Heather McHugh, judge of the 2012 Sawtooth Poetry Prize

About this title

About the Author:

Theodore Zachary Cotler is the author of a novel, Ghost at the Loom, a critical monograph, Elegies for Humanism, and three books of poetry, House with a Dark Sky Roof, Sonnets to the Humans, and Supplice. His awards include the Colorado Prize, the Sawtooth Prize, the Amy Clampitt Residency, and the Ruth Lilly Fellowship. His poems appear in Poetry, Paris Review, the New York Times, and other journals. He is a founding editor of The Winter Anthology, winteranthology.com

Review:

"Sufficiently erudite in its construction and conceit that it deserves many re-readings and even serious academic study." -Huffington Post                                                                                                      

"In one sense, the mimesis machine breaks down...we have run out of similarities with the human...the bid for an external, outsider, alien voice, acts as a mechanism that only reinforces the book's relationship to what comes before. Though it resists such a determination, this machine that breaks down is still very much a success, and a human one." -Atticus Review

"The language is beautiful. The premise challenges the reader's mind. Think about it until it hurts, or let it wash over you. You will not be disappointed." -Barn Owl Review

"As finely crafted as it as it innovative--a thoroughly enjoyable book."  - Pleiades

About this edition

• Publisher: Ahsahta Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1934103365
• ISBN 13: 9781934103364
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 72