Heid E. Erdrich

A book passed on from a friend, published by MSU Press. I adored it even more than I expected to. It took me a little while to learn how to read it. It's a true multi-media experience, with QR codes leading to videos that provide readings on some of the poems. Many other poems provide commentary to songs, mixtapes, paintings, art installations -- and looking up the original inspirations online (where available) almost always added invaluable depth and nuance to the poems.

What at first felt show more awkward drew me in deeper and further the more that I read. By the end I was clamoring for more! More poems! More paintings! Spotify playlists for the mixtapes! An interactive website to supplement the book! A rare instance in which I actually felt excited about an interconnected, multi-media, hypertext experience. Definitely my favorite use of QR codes so far.

An author I will definitely keep an eye out for in the future. show less

Another of my Prairie Lights poetry purchases -- I had to pick this up when I saw it because of how much I liked the collection Curator of Ephemera at the New Museum for Archaic Media. This is a very different collection, without all the QR codes, videos, and playlists, but I enjoyed it just as much, scribbling all kinds of notes down as I read.

I read this on a long drive to pick up our kids from my parents, and a few of these I just had to read aloud to my husband as he drove. The first two show more poems set up the collection and its theme of the tension between Native artifacts and monuments to the past and Native communities and people living today. The second poem, "Guidelines for the Treatment of Sacred Objects," is probably my favorite in the entire collection -- with its humor, dryness, deep empathy, and irritation.

There are also poems here that take your guts and give them a hard twist, most noticeably "Desecrate," which returns to punch to the word, and "Made in Toyland," which skewers consumerism, globalization, and wealth disparity.

This collection establishes Erdrich on my list of favorite living poets. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for more of her work. show less

This is the third collection of Erdrich's that I've read, and each one just makes me want to read more!

I loved "The Coldness Was Coldness" taking on William Carlos Williams and his most famous (or at least most viral) poem of ice boxes and plums -- and the near-invisible wife implied therein. I loved "Oh - Terrible Movie!" watching "The Day After Tomorrow" in the midst of 2019's polar vortex, proud when their kid heckles the screen. but perhaps most of all I love the last two poems in the show more collection, "Dream of the Land-Based Future" and "Reprieve," that dream imagined futures that give reason for hope.

Heid E. Erdrich is so wonderful. show less

A great survey of a very diverse field. Some work that kicks back hard at settler bullshit; some that is much more contemplative and/or personal. Like any such collection I didn't love all of it, but I've ended up putting books by more than half of the features poets on my wishlist, which I think is great success for a compilation.