104 pages / 5.50 x 8.50 inches / no illustrations
Alice Friman's latest collection, Vinculum, roots for deep connections between people, nature, retrospection, and the inevitable biological destiny of the body. Friman's work branches out from the core poem, "The Mythological Cod," to form a trellis of revelations on religion, sex, humor, science, and history.Her poems embrace the painful uncertainty of existence and relationships with clear-cut precision. The defiance and directness of Vinculum is matched by its musicality, creating a rich but fragile weave of human attachment.
Alice Friman is the author of six poetry collections, including The View from Saturn and Vinculum. Born in New York City, she now lives in Milledgeville, Georgia.
“Never sentimental, though often deeply emotional, Friman uses her wit and her facility for striking metaphor to fend off all easy tears. If tears come, they are hard-earned and weighty. . . . With sexy jokes and joking allusions, Friman’s poems remind us of all that threatens us in life and of how important it is to brush aside the threats—not mindlessly or carelessly, but with the courage and confidence that life still offers rewards and solace.”—Pleiades
“A sharp humor undercuts Friman’s erudition. Bawdy, self-mocking, startling, these poems surge with the poet’s capacious appetite for building associations—which give the book energy and verve, even as many pieces concern life’s inevitable losses. . . . Friman distinguishes herself from other contemporary poets by bringing a confident feminism and humor to her meditations.”—Women’s Review of Books
“Reading Alice Friman’s Vinculum feels like sitting on the porch with a beloved aunt who recounts her adventures without skipping the sexy parts. . . . Go ahead and revel. Read to yourself under your shady tree.”—New Letters
“I want to be changed by the event of a poem. The best poets do this consistently. Alice Friman is such a poet. . . . There is not a single poem in the collection that doesn’t move me—not one ‘eh’ moment in the entire book. Not one. Remarkable.”—The Chattahoochee Review
“In Vinculum . . . [Friman] has remembered and honored the dead by being intensely alive. She has deftly combined serious frivolity with fervent solemnity. Indeed, she has translated what has been into what could be.”—The Georgia Review
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