The Alphabet Not Unlike the World: Poems
Three poems from the collection read on NPR on Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac"Kenyon ReviewHoliday Reading Recommendation Pick“Vanderberg [shows] remarkable restraint when telling stories. She trusts her reader enough to leave these spare images uncluttered with explanation. More important, her reader can trust that fine writing and poetic logic will carry these poems as they travel across the wide spaces between what we understand.”— Elizabeth Hoover,Minneapolis Star Tribune"It’s not an arrangement of poems that serve as settings for a few gems: every poem, it seems, is a standout."— Jake Adam York,Kenyon Review"Vandenberg’s second collection takes the alphabet and its evolution as form and reservoir of associations as its subject...This is a rich subject...The flashes of inspiration—“if antlers / are trees in silhouette”—are genuine.— Michael Autrey,Booklist"Thanks to Katrina’s clear crystalline poems, all women will remember adolescence as it moves through family, and all men will have something new to understand. Vandenberg's calm observations create a harmony of thought in this lyrical and resonant collection. Each poem is a story with a stunning purpose."—Washington Independent Review of BooksPraise forKatrina Vandenberg“Katrina Vandenberg uses playfully intoxicating metaphors to launder the simplicities and eccentricities of life.”--FlauntPraise forAtlas“Katrina has always traced the patterns and rhythms she discovers so readily in life. InAtlas, she translates those patterns and rhythms into poetry.”—Paula Evans Neuman, TheNews-Herald“The debut poetry collection of Katrina Vandenberg employs a language and flair for expression that transcends time while drawing upon personal family artifacts, memories, ideas, and friends.”—Betsy L. Hogan,Midwest Book Review“What a gift to have these poems in the world! Katrina Vandenberg is an expert witness to the verities, pathologies and moments. The stain of blood on this Atlas is exquisite. Here is the record of an honest pilgrim--a book of treasure maps and vital stats--a mighty work in words.”--Thomas Lynch, author ofThe Undertaking