{"product_id":"philomath-poems-paperback","title":"Philomath: Poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDevon Walker-Figueroa\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2022 Levis Reading Prize\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist for the National Book Critics Circle's 2021 John Leonard Prize for Best First Book\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e \"Top Ten Pick\" for Fall 2021 Poetry Titles\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/em\u003e \"Poetry Title to Watch\" for 2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA\u003cem\u003e Chicago Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e \"Must-Read Book of September 2021\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSelected by Sally Keith as a winner of the 2020 National Poetry Series, this debut collection is a ruminative catalogue of overgrowth and the places that haunt us.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith Devon Walker-Figueroa as our Virgil, we begin in the collection's eponymous town of Philomath, Oregon. We drift through the general store, into the Nazarene Church, past people plucking at the brambles of a place that won't let them go. We move beyond the town into fields and farmland--and further still, along highways, into a cursed Californian town, a museum in Florence. We wander with a kind of animal logic, like a beast with \"a mind to get loose \/ from a valley fallowing \/ towards foul,\" through the tense, overlapping space between movement and stillness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn explorer at the edge of the sublime, Walker-Figueroa writes in quiet awe of nature, of memory, and of a beauty that is \"merely existence carrying on and carrying on.\" In her wanderings, she guides readers toward a kind of witness that doesn't flinch from the bleak or bizarre: A vineyard engulfed in flames is reclaimed by the fields. A sow smothers its young, then bears more. A neighbor chews locusts in his yard.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor in \u003cem\u003ePhilomath\u003c\/em\u003e, it is the poet's (sometimes reluctant) obligation \"to keep an eye \/ on what is left\" of the people and places that have impacted us. And there is always \u003cem\u003esomething \u003c\/em\u003eleft, whether it is the smell of burnt grapes, a twelfth-century bronze, or even a lock of hair.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDevon Walker-Figueroa\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003ePhilomath\u003c\/i\u003e, selected for the 2020 National Poetry Series by Sally Keith. Originally from Kings Valley, a ghost town in the Oregon Coast Range, she is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the 2018 recipient of the New England Review's Emerging Writer Award. Her poems have appeared in such publications as \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePOETRY\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eAmerican Poetry Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLana Turner\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePloughshares\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 96\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.55 x 8.27 x 6.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 14, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51768165925152,"sku":"9781571315229","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/891aff674235285fca19c62813346b27.webp?v=1780326244","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/philomath-poems-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}