Magnetic North

This stunning collection from the award-winning poet Linda
Gregerson examines the intersections of history, science, and art.
Touching on subjects as diverse as a breakthrough discovery in cell
biology and the films of Ingmar Bergman, the anatomy of a possum and
the Nazi occupation of Poland, Gregerson seeks to distill "the shape of
the question," the tenuous connection between knowing and suffering,
between the brightness of the body and the shadows of the mind. "Choose
any angle you like," she writes, "the world is split in two." Longtime readers
of Gregerson's poetry will be fascinated by her departure from the
supple tercets in which she has worked for nearly twenty years: Magnetic
North is a bold anthology of formal experiments. It is also a heartening act
of sustained attention from one of our most mindful American poets.