About this item
Is it possible for poetry to be simultaneously raw and elegant, direct and oblique, hurtful and consoling? Yes, says Dear Delinquent, Ann Townsend's incandescent new collection. "My heart presses my ribcage like an octagon fist," she writes, taking on the persona of both betrayed and betrayer. Through poems that masterfully recall the styles of Sylvia Plath or Philip Larkin, Townsend convinces us that, even if its most destructive forms, love is the driving force behind all behavior.
About the Author
Ann Townsend is the author of three collections of poetry: Dear Delinquent (Sarabande Books, 2019) , The Coronary Garden (Sarabande Books, 2005) , and Dime Store Erotics (Silverfish Review Press, 1998) , winner of the Gerald Cable Prize. She also is the editor of a collection of essays, Radiant Lyre: Essays on Lyric Poetry, (with David Baker) , published by Graywolf Press in 2007. Her poetry and essays appear in such magazines as The American Poetry Review, Poetry, The Paris Review, The Nation, The Southern Review, and many others. She has read her poems and lectured on poetry and poetics at colleges, universities, writer's workshops, and bookstores around the country. Professor of English and Creative Writing at Denison University, she teaches courses in creative writing, twentieth century poetry and literary translation. She lives on a small farm in Granville, Ohio where she hybridizes modern daylilies and tends several acres of woods, gardens and orchards. You can find Ann on Twitter at @anntownsendpoet.
