(some of) The Adventures of Carlyle, My Imaginary Friend (Iowa Poetry Prize) - Softcover

Hazners, Dainis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0877458790 ISBN 13: 9780877458791

Publisher: University Of Iowa Press, 2004

Synopsis

At first glance these poems (which read like one long odyssey) seem sweet and peaceful—like taking a walk in the woods. But then, things turn darker: a storm blows in—and with it some Aliens, Ghost and Ghoul, the Hanging Man. Luckily, Carlyle has a few good friends such as Ruth, the Hag, the Boy, who are staunch and true and faithful. A whistling-in-the-dark suspense alternately stimulates and enervates the witness.

“Carlyle is spore, and mild. / He is swoon &sherbet.” Endearing and kind, if not actually cruel, he is also cold and strange. He shapeshifts, transforming into Magician and Jester, Surgeon and Scientist, Cloud; he studies fire and mirrors and bores holes in his own skull, looking for heaven. Throughout his many adventures, which range from the ludicrous to the life-threatening, he flies into the light and carries the reader with him on his perplexing and fanciful journey.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Winner of the 2003 Iowa Poetry Prize

About the Author:

Dainis Hazners lives near Story, Wyoming; for ten years he was co-owner of an independent bookshop in Sheridan. He has been the recipient of an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry and three fellowships from the Wyoming Arts Council. His work has been published in a variety of journals, including the Crab Creek Review, Plains Poetry Journal, Southern Poetry Review, and Connecticut River Review, and in the anthologies Visions of Wyoming, If You Would Love Wyoming, and Deep West: A Wyoming Literary Guide. This is his first book.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0877458790
• ISBN 13: 9780877458791
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 136