Prodigal: New and Selected Poems

Prodigal: New and Selected Poems collects work from Linda Gregerson's previous books along with new pieces. The volume spans three decades of her poetry career and showcases her signature style of complex line breaks and varied stanza forms. The poems move through personal and historical territories, from Renaissance art to modern medicine, from family life to environmental crisis. Gregerson's background as a Renaissance scholar informs her references to classical mythology and medieval Christianity. The collection demonstrates her ability to connect intimate domestic moments with broader cultural and political contexts. Her work often explores themes of time, mortality, and the intersections between scientific and spiritual ways of understanding the world.

Readers note Gregerson's precise control of language and her ability to weave historical, scientific, and personal narratives. Many cite her distinctive three-line stanza format and how she uses line breaks to create meaning. Readers appreciate: - Complex layering of themes and references - Focus on family relationships and loss - Integration of classical mythology with modern experiences - Technical mastery of poetic form Common criticisms: - Dense academic style can be inaccessible - Some poems require extensive historical/literary knowledge - Line breaks and formatting feel artificial to some readers Ratings: Goodreads: 4.3/5 (37 ratings) Amazon: 5/5 (3 ratings) One reader on Goodreads wrote: "Her command of craft and form is stunning." Another noted: "The three-line stanzas begin to feel formulaic after a while." Library Journal praised her "precise language and careful attention to the mysteries of form and faith."

Time and Materials by Robert Hass This collection meditates on personal loss, ecological concern, and historical memory through precise imagery and intricate formal structures.

Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey These poems weave personal history with the broader narrative of the American South through a series of elegies and historical investigations.

The Wild Iris by Louise Glück This sequence explores the cycles of nature, death, and rebirth through interconnected voices of flowers, gardener, and deity.

Space, in Chains by Laura Kasischke The poems move between domestic scenes and metaphysical questions while examining mortality, motherhood, and time's passage.

What the Living Do by Marie Howe These narrative poems chronicle grief, family relationships, and everyday moments through clear, unadorned language and precise detail.

🌟 Linda Gregerson crafts many of her poems in unique three-line stanzas, a signature form she developed to create both intimacy and tension in her work 🎭 The collection includes poems spanning three decades of Gregerson's career, showcasing her evolution from early works about Renaissance drama to more personal pieces about family and mortality 📚 Before becoming a poet, Gregerson trained as an actress at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which influenced her attention to voice and performance in poetry 🎓 The author maintains dual careers as both a distinguished poet and a renowned Renaissance scholar at the University of Michigan, where she teaches creative writing and literature 🏆 "Prodigal" was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, one of the most prestigious and financially significant poetry prizes in the United States, offering $100,000 to the winner