Escape Velocity

96 pages
Published:   April 23, 2013
Poetry /  icehouse poetry
Paperback:   9780864929068    $19.95

Winner, E.J. Pratt Poetry Award
Shortlisted, BMO Winterset Award

Carmelita McGrath's Escape Velocity — the long awaited follow-up to her Atlantic Poetry Prize-winning collection To the New World — culls overlooked fragments from our domestic lives and ferries them on unpredictable journeys. A conversation with a telemarketer becomes a monologue on overcoming loss, stray animals provoke cautionary tales shared between generations of women, and junk mail fosters a meditation on necessity, debt, and the inevitability of one's passing. From the elegiac, to the playful, to the meditative, McGrath effortlessly shifts from a natural refinement to a near breathless elegance. Well worth the wait, Escape Velocity marks the return of McGrath's receptive intelligence, gathering strength and taking flight.

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