Karen Volkman

Crash's Law

Winner of the 1995 National Poetry Series, judged and selected by Heather McHugh.

Through myth, dream, and sensual detail, the poems in this remarkable first collection portray a hectic world plagued by a desire for psychic coherence. The book begins and ends in extremity: the opening poem, "Infernal," evokes the searing realm of an actual and metaphoric Miami, while the final poem, "New Heaven, New Earth," alludes to seeking a path through dense woods amid a blinding, obliterating blizzard. In their longing to define a set of terms for spiritual survival, these essentially lyric poems merge an evocation of contemporary consciousness with the oldest conventions of cry and song. "Volkman's poems are quintessentially . . . blood raw, soul-stinging, torqued by their forcefulness. A riveting, fresh collection."—Booklist

"Volkman's style informs her work with an exciting confidence."—Publishers Weekly