Made in Michigan Writer Series: Wide Awake in Someone Else's Dream

Wide Awake in Someone Else's Dream is a collection of traveling poems written in Russia, Israel, Germany, and China that take the reader on a contemplative journey through both the geography of these countries and their cultures as well as through the inward mind of the narrator. As Liebler travels the world, he wrestles with themes of self-discovery, spirituality, identity, and change, and renders poems in his signature raw and defiant style. Thoughtful and direct, these poems look toward beauty and contemplation in a bitter world that has become fraught with mistrust and misunderstanding.

Wide Awake in Someone Else's Dream is divided into four sections, the first three of which are set in specific locales―Russia, Germany, and Jerusalem. The final section is not limited to a single geographic location but still finds Liebler traveling through different lands and the resultant emotions of dislocation, alienation, and vulnerability that his surroundings provoke. Throughout this collection Liebler's poems touch on issues of political upheaval, exploitation, and corruption and look at the personal and spiritual transformation left in their wake. This ability to give readers a glimpse of a bleak global reality translated by a hopeful eye has earned Liebler's poems comparisons to the richly imagistic and spiritual work of George Trakl.

In all, this collection is characterized by its calm and powerful voice, which has a musical sensibility in its spare and straightforward presentation. Fans of Liebler's work and general readers of poetry will enjoy Wide Awake in Someone Else's Dream.

M. L. Liebler is on the faculty of the department of English at Wayne State University and is the author of several books of poetry, including The Moon a Box, Written in Rain: New and Selected Poems, 1985–2000, and Stripping the Adult Century Bare: New and Selected Writings. He is the director of Springfed Arts: Metro Detroit Writers Literary Arts Organization.