Overview
Selected by Maggie Smith for the 2023 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry, this debut collection of poems explores the aftermath of historyās most powerful forces: devotion, disaster, and us.
Rooted in the Gulf Coast, A History of Half-Birds measures the line between love and ruin. Part poet, part anthropologist, Caroline Harper New digs into dark placesāa cave, a womb, a hurricaneāto trace how violence born of devotion manifests not only in our human relationships, but also in our connections to the natural and animal worlds. Everywhere in these pages, tenderness is coupled with brutality: a deer eats a baby bird, a lover restrains another. āI promised / a love poem,ā New proclaims, then teaches us about the anglerfish, how it āattracts its mate / and prey with the same lure.ā
In Newās exceptional voice, familiar concepts take on a shade of the fantastic. A woman tastes the earth for acidity, buries lemons and pennies for balance. Limestone āsucks the sea / into little demitasseā and hyacinths āsip the sun / black.ā A lone elephant wanders into the wilderness of rural Georgia, never to be seen again. But perhaps most arresting about Newās work are the truths told by its strangeness, like the ancient fish who ācarved their shapeā in a mountainās peak, or a mother who wears a lifejacket in the bathtub.
Crafted by Newās voracious mind and carried by her matchless lyricism, A History of Half-Birds is a stunning investigation of loveās beastly impulsesāall it protects, and all it destroys.
This book title, A History of Half-Birds (Poems), ISBN: 9781571315304, by Caroline Harper New, published by Milkweed Editions (January 16, 2024) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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