Customer Reviews

Old Ways to Fold New Paper

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...typify this poet's work. Without sentimentality, she travels to a very personal place and makes it universal; makes it matter. Whether it be a poem about a lover, politics, an ancient place and its resonances, or the evocation of a memory, Lowitz brings her gift to bear without pretense or self-consciousness. This is a poet to watch and to listen to. Her poems haunt and elucidate, they teach and inspire. Old Ways to Fold New Paper is a revelation. I return to it time and again.

Leza Lowitz writes poetry that is never self-conscious, always full of grace and simplicity, with just the right dosage of details. And the details are evocative, their landscapes of Japan, of childhood, of womanhood. I look forward to her future work, and further travel with this gifted poet.

As someone who doesn't really like or "get" poetry in general, I found Leza Lowitz's //Old Ways to Fold/New Paper/// to be a revelation. The poems have a tremendous power that seems to have to do mainly with the poet's voice--there is something about the rhythm of the lines and the honesty of the sentiments that makes it seem as if the words are emerging straight from the unconscious. Pictures are painted in my mind that make me feel as if I'm actually experiencing what the poet describes. I find myself thinking, "so THIS is poetry," and taking the time to read other contemporary poets--but without really finding, as yet, anyone else who conveys that quality to me. I will keep trying, however, and hope to see more of Ms. Lowitz's work in the future--she may make a poetry lover out of me yet.

With fine, deft strokes, renowned poet-translator Leza Lowitz skewers her topics, either stimulating or anaesthetizing. Ranging the world of her own travels and psyche, she has the gift of a good poet to irritate when she pricks our sacred cows, to alarm when she rings the warning bell, and to arouse our humane sympathy when she draws near to our common causes.