SUSPENSION

Thanks to Terrapin Books for publishing my poetry collection Suspension. It is available at Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis and Next Chapter Booksellers (formerly Common Good Books) in St. Paul, from Terrapin Books, Barnes & Noble.com, and at  Amazon.com!

Reviews of Suspension:

“Suspension is that rare book of poetry, as much a narrative as a collection of individually successful lyrics. We follow here the extraordinary events of a life and the visions of the one/the many living it. We end, as in life, so far from where we began that a true sense of progress is made in the reading of this poetry, and yet we’ve lingered, meditated, listened, because this is work made mostly of imagery and music, subtlety and unflinching consideration. These are poems to return to again and again, written by a poet of unique powers.”

—Laura Kasischke, author of Where Now; Space, In Chains; and Lilies Without

“In Paige Riehl’s Suspension, the poems explore constant and probing questions that arise with the crossing of thresholds. Whether exploring questions of motherhood, family, with whom one belongs, or whether the poem’s speaker is an unfurled ribbon investigating the self, Riehl proceeds with elegance and certitude. As one’s course in the world is shifted, Suspension offers readers the grace notes to read such transitions with bewilderment and with the understanding of each new moment’s possibility.”

—Oliver de la Paz, author of Post Subject: A Fable, Requiem for the Orchard, and Furious Lullaby

“Though the book is called Suspension, there is no hesitation here in how Paige Riehl describes the complicated, outrageous, glorious, and grief-stricken world in which we all live. The subjects are varied–childhood, love, children, illness, travel–but the voice speaking the poems goes unfailingly to the challenges of our 21st century western world. The poems often afford a resolution, no matter how momentary, to these challenges. There is rawness here as well as delight. Perhaps most telling, the book is a sustained meditation on love in its many guises. As such, it is a gift, and it is our luck as readers to be its recipients.”

—Jim Moore, author of Underground: New and Selected Poems, Invisible Strings, and Lightning at Dinner

Thanks to fellow South Dakotan and Saint Paul transplant Meranda Turbak for the fantastic artwork for the cover of Suspension.

BLOOD TIES

Thanks to Finishing Line Press for publishing my chapbook titled Blood Ties.

Artwork - Riehl - Blood Ties - WITH TITLE - JPEG

“Go back there now,” instructs Paige Riehl in “Hometown,” “back before you were / this adult who won’t / return in body” . . . And that’s just what these wonderful poems do. But these are not poems of simplistic nostalgia: these are poems that capture, so beautifully, the yearning and apprehension felt at the cusp of adulthood; that explore the complex blend of sadness and relief that comes with escaping, at least physically, the landscapes of our youth. These poems remind us that such intimate landscapes—both internal and external—create, for better or worse, the very kernel of who we are.

—Jude Nutter, author of The Curator of Silence; I Wish I Had a Heart Like Yours, Walt Whitman; and Pictures of the Afterlife

“It is not so easy to conjure a world in a collection of poems. In Paige Riehl’s remarkable book, we readers enter the world she has made for us, and it is a real world that compels our attention and affection. This poet brings her past to life, but these poems do not just do memory work. Yes, the poems reveal a world, but they are sustained by the poet’s wisdom, and deepened by her understanding about what fate and choice have dealt her. Blood Ties is a beautiful collection. Read these poems, and welcome a new and wonderful voice.”

—Deborah Keenan, author of Willow Room, Green Door: New and Selected Poems; Good Heart, and From Tiger to Prayer

Thanks to the amazing artist Susan Solomon for painting the beautiful artwork for the cover.

Copies of Blood Ties are available at Finishing Line Press or Amazon.com.

Thanks to The Poet’s Playlist for featuring Blood Ties and my playlist.