Be With (2018), published by New Directions, is the tenth collection of poems written by Forrest Gander. The book won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and was longlisted for a 2018 National Book Award.[1][2] The collection is, in part, an elegy for poet C. D. Wright to whom Gander had been married since 1986 and who passed unexpectedly in 2016.[3][4] The title of Be With comes from the dedication of ShallCross, a collection of poems by Wright published posthumously.[5] Gander eventually stopped doing public readings from Be With over personal concerns with performing his grief.[6] The design for the 2018 print of the collection was done by art designer Sasha Veryovka.[7]
 Official Cover Design for Be With | |
| Author | Forrest Gander |
|---|---|
| Genre | Poetry |
| Publisher | New Directions Press |
Publication date | 2018 |
| Publication place | United States of America |
| ISBN | 0811226050 |
Description and Overview
editThe poems of Be With orbit several topics, most notably the death of Gander's wife, but also the mysticism of St. John of the Cross, the history of the U.S. border with Mexico, and his mother's Alzheimer's disease.[8]
The collection begins with an epigraph from the poem "The World" by William Bronk. The poems in the collection can be described as free verse. The collection concludes with a section titled "Littoral Zone" containing a series of ekphrastic poems responding to adjoining photograms by artist Michael Flomen.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Be With via The Pulitzer Prize". Retrieved July 26, 2024.
- ^ "National Book Foundation - 2018 National Book Awards". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Tess (14 December 2018). "Poems About Loss That Shatter Meaning and Borders". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ Fox, Margalit (16 January 2016). "C. D. Wright, Poet of Ozarks and Beyond, Dies at 67". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ Chiasson, Dan (20 August 2018). "Forrest Gander's Grief Sounds". The New Yorker. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "Lichen Doesn't Die - Poetry Off the Shelf". Poetry Foundation. 25 July 2024.
- ^ "SASHA VERYOVKA". SASHA VERYOVKA.
- ^ "Forrest Gander, Be With via New Directions". www.ndbooks.com.
- ^ "NEWS". MICHAEL FLOMEN. Retrieved 29 July 2024.