In 1996, Jorie Graham published The Dream of a Unified Field: Selected Poems 1974-1994, which won the Pulitzer Prize. From the New World: Poems 1976-2014 gathers together poetry from her 11 collections, as well as some previously unpublished pieces. It's the perfect place to start for readers new to her, since her poetic growth over these nearly 40 years can be (literally) seen.
A Graham poem on the page is an art work in itself. Form and format are important to her. Her poems use long and short lines, indentations and various spacing techniques to great effect. Words spread out all over, this way and that. As such, the form provides instructions on how a given poem could be read. Watching her read her own work helps, too. She is intent, her voice going up and down with the lines, the stops, the gaps and pauses, the repetitions, creating something of a séance-like experience.
Graham cares deeply about philosophy and the connection between the writer and reader, and so can be a challenging read. An early poem, "On Difficulty," admits as much. One of the new poems, "Honeycomb," deals with U.S. and British clandestine electronic surveillance. It begins: "Ode to Prism. Aria. Untitled. Wait. I wait. Have you found me yet. Here at my screen,/ can you make me/ out. Make me out. All other exits have been sealed. See me or we will both vanish." This book is an ideal way to experience Graham's poetic world. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher