Collected Poems

Karin Lessing - born in Germany, raised in the USA, resident for decades in France - is one of those poets who exist outisde the tides of literary fashion, and indeed beyond the ken of most readers, although she has a devoted band of supporters, among whom Shearsman Books must be counted. Her last two collections were published here, and this survey of her entire writing career, which brings together all of her books plus a number of uncollected texts, is vital to reaching an understanding of her work. Her poetry is not as well known as it should be, in part due to her expatriation, but she writes slowly, and carefully, and with great attention to the smallest details of language. Her work owes something to American forebears, but also to European writers, both French and German, and the resulting poetic stands somewhat outside any poetic stream that one might recognise in the USA today, whether of the conservative, or of the alternative variety.