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Special author-signed copies of Skillman's work are availablePurchase by clicking the "Add to Cart" buttons
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Prisoner of the Swifts <NEW RELEASE - June 2009> |
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The
vivid imagistic precision of Judith Skillman's "Prisoner of the Swifts"
encompasses the full emotive spectrum--"the quotient / of happiness /
divided by storehouses of dread"-- in poems that traverse the range of
experience from pleasure in newborn life to "the great wealth of pain"
from which that life emerges. Like Dickinson, another poet
whose
passionate imagination "overflowed / the room" to embrace the whole
universe, Skillman watches the aerial acrobatics of never-alighting
swifts beyond her "Victorian walls," and discovers in them the
strength of spirit to confront her own frailty and to celebrate a life
"that seeds and recedes." These poems "render in iridescence"
the
mortal lives, with their windows onto eternity, of us all. --Carolyne Wright |
Heat Lightning, New & Selected Poems 1986 - 2006 |
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Includes selections from
Judith’s seven previously published books, plus a ‘New
Poems’ section. Work from Heat Lightning has appeared in Poetry,
FIELD, Southern Review, The Iowa Review, Seneca Review, Prairie
Schooner, and many other journals. |
Coppelia, Certain Digressions |
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"In Coppelia, Certain Digressions, Judith Skillman
explores beyond
the puppet's passivity, the careful appearance of the doll, to plumb
the machinations and manipulations of womanhood in all its expectations
and realities. Throughout these poems, she uses taut language and
subliminal imagery to evoke the feminine role in its many
forms...mother, daughter, sister, wife...and the relationships to
children and spouses as well as, ultimately, the past and the sometimes
painful, often mundane path of aging. Beyond simple beauty, in this
collection Skillman has crafted a resonant reminder of survival." Published by David Robert Books, 2006 |
Latticework |
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This collection
of poems, inspired by Judith Skillman's collaboration
with textile artist Erika Carter, was selected by Contemporary Quilt
Arts "Visual Verse Project" for a five year traveling display of quilts
and poems.
Read
a review by Joan Schulze. Published by David Robert Books, 2004 |
Circe's Island |
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"Judith
Skillman sings. She sings of
home so as to define it. She sings home back to origins, both Hebrew
and Hellenic, that give it warmth and meaning. Her precise,
quick-stepping lyrics help us find out own way home, and to face the
mystery of never fully knowing it." - David Hamilton, Editor, The Iowa
Review
Read
reviews of Circe's Island. Published by Silverfish Review Press, 2003 |
Storm |
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"The apparent
normalcy of the world
of these poems is a thin ice on which the speaker pauses, scarily,
suspended over a turmoil of delusion, cruelty, and materialism, over
our deepest personal and cultural terrors, over the tidal surge of
history, remaining calms and deeply inquisitive, singing a little." -- John Witte, Editor, Northwest Review Read
a review of Storm Published by Blue Begonia Press, 1998 |
Red Town |
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"Language
shuffles the ground between inner and outer landscapes,
yielding poems that hover in a dreamlike present and in the nearness of
another, yet more revelatory vision to come." - Charlene Breedlove,
Editor, Journal of the American Medical Association
Buy Red Town at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. Published by Silverfish Review Press, 2001 |
Sweetbrier |
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In Sweetbrier,
the elegy is given
new treatment. Aspects of physics and nature come together to prefigure
loss and define its role as essential to transformation. The world of
poems in this book is populated by summer landscapes that include
crabapple, hawthorn, hyacinth, honeysuckle, and cottonwood.
Buy Sweetbrier at Empty Mirror Books or Barnes & Noble. Published by Blue Begonia Press, Working Signs Series, 2001 |
Beethoven and the Birds |
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"This fine
collection translates the
music of chaos into the music of unwavering attention. Filled with
historical insight and personal illumination, Beethoven and the Birds
is an elegant, complex achievement." -- Linda Bierds
Read
reviews of Beethoven and the Birds. Published by Blue Begonia Press, 1996 |
Worship of the Visible Spectrum |
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"...Worship of
the Visible Spectrum
attaches itself to the mind's eye, leaves afterimages that enlarge the
reader's world and living in it memorable." ~ Madeline DeFrees
Read
reviews of Worship of the Visible Spectrum. Published by Breitenbush Books, 1988 |
Special Signed Books Bundle - "The Quartet" |
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Purchase all
four of Judith Skillman's books illustrated by Priscilla Maynard for
just $25, plus $5 postage and handling.
"Beethoven and the Birds" is the overture; "Storm" the allegro, "Red Town" the largo, and "Circe's Island" the reprise. Don't miss this opportunity to receive the full collection, signed by the author, at this new low price. This bundle is available directly from the author; to order, please email your request to Judith. |