Of Annunciations - Softcover

Chrusciel, Ewa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1632430398 ISBN 13: 9781632430397

Publisher: Omnidawn, 2017

Synopsis

In her book, Chrusciel maps the biblical event of annunciation onto the current migration crises. Annunciation becomes a symbol of the “yes” that we utter in front of reality, particularly confronted with exiles, strangers―in other words, the other. The book quivers on the brink between openness to the other and the terror the other brings out in us. What does it mean to say “yes” to a stranger? What implications, threats, blessings and responsibilities do “yes” carry? Can we say “yes” to a dislocated soul in order to become more fully who we were meant to be?

About this title

About the Author:

EWA CHRUSCIEL is a bilingual poet and a translator. Her two previous books in English are Contraband of Hoopoe (Omnidawn Press, 2014) and Strata (2011). She has also published three books in Polish: Tobolek (2016), Sopilki (2009), Furkot (2001). She is an associate professor of creative writing and poetry at Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire.

Review:

"In this collection of poems, Chrusciel captures the spirit of migrations past and present, regulated or not, often viewed with suspicion by host cultures due to perceived "otherness." As the granddaughter of a Polish immigrant who grew up in a Polish neighborhood in Chicago, I found myself fascinated by Chrusciel, who is from Southern Poland, just like my grandmother's family, though the elders in my family carried the mark of an earlier migration, one that is also addressed in this book. This is, in part, a story that includes them."--Margaret Stawowy "Up the Staircase Quarterly" (1/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Of Annunciations by Ewa Chrusciel maps the biblical event of annunciation onto the current migration crises. Chrusciel's series of prayers, laments, and lullabies quivers on the brink between openness to the other and the terror the other brings out in us."--Alex Crowley "Publishers Weekly" (1/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Chrusciel poses philosophical questions throughout the text, such as 'Do souls have a language?' and 'What is the loon that descends/ us into silences?' Her poems operate where the borders between self and other give way to a larger cosmic, perhaps more spiritual, truth."--Alex Crowley "Publishers Weekly" (1/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Polish immigrant Ewa Chrusciel is the author of two previous poetry collections in English: Contraband of Hoopoe and Strata. Omnidawn Publishing has just released her latest collection, Of Annunciations. The poems explore current migration crises throughout the world. She courageously exposes the migration crisis by using the image of a "dybbuk," a figure from Jewish mysticism and folklore. The dybbuk is an invasive figure and surfaces as the persistent spirit of the dead who seek not revenge but fulfillment as they burrow into the heart of the living community."--Sonja James "The Journal" (1/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)

About this edition

• Publisher: Omnidawn
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1632430398
• ISBN 13: 9781632430397
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 104