Swarm: Poems

A New York Times Notable Book

"These poems are among the most intense, personal, and ardent [Graham] has written." —Boston Book Review

The eighth collection of poetry from Pulitzer Prize winner Jorie Graham

T.S. Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, John Ashbery—and Jorie Graham. The New Yorker places Ms. Graham in this distinguished line of poets, heralding her as a profound voice in American poetry. In Swarm, she further enhances her reputation with a book-length sequence of verse that is a stunning work of grandeur.

The New Republic writes, "for 'swarm,' in other words...read 'be born again.' Graham is writing about a spiritual turning point, a new beginning.... Beauty—that is, the pure sense-perception which has long been a concern for Graham—is no longer the most important criterion. Now goodness is...[and] the idea of submission, of obedience, without understanding: one must 'yield' before 'hearing the reason' for yielding."

T S. Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, John Ashbery -- and Jorie Graham. The New Yorker places Ms. Graham in this distinguished line of poets, heralding the Pulitzer Prize winner as a profound voice in American poetry. Now, in her eighth collection, she further enhances her reputation with a book-length sequence of verse that is a stunning work of grandeur.

The New Republic writes, "for 'swarm,' in other words...read 'be born again.' Graham is writing about a spiritual turning point, a new beginning.... Beauty -- that is, the pure sense-perception which has long been a concern for Graham -- is no longer the most important criterion. Now goodness is...[and] the idea of submission, of obedience, without understanding: one must 'yield' before 'hearing the reason' for yielding."

"Graham is one of the most important living poets, and her control of her craft is undisputed." - Library Journal

"Graham's poetry is among the most sensuously embodied and imaginative writing we have." - New York Times Book Review

"From a noted syntax of elaboration, a poetics of copula, [Graham] has pared a syntax of implication, the poetics of meanwhile. And yet, these poems are among the most intense, personal, and ardent that she has written....Swarm is a startling departure for Graham, and an incredibly complex and surprising one." - Boston Book Review

"In Swarm, her eighth collection of poems, Jorie Graham proves once again to be the most formidable and innovative voice in contemporary poetry...Readers who abandon the need to control the text will be rewarded with an exhilerating ride in Swarm." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"In Swarm, Jorie Graham once again puts herself at risk exploring (exploding?) our notions of subjectivity by exploiting the disjunctive posibilities offered by form. Her uniquely flexible style is punctuated by fragments and gaps that at once both cut across and define the poetic landscape fissures that remind us of our own fragmentary self...Graham's poetic voice expresses a unique individuality that dares to encouter that which is beyond itself...Graham is quite clearly one of the most distinctive and exciting poets writing today." - Virginia Quarterly Review

"What Graham's fan's love is here: abstruse yet gratifying formulations...Her lines act out the mind's movement, script the mind's dialogue, without ever sinking to dull description or exposition." - Time Out

"What Jorie Graham gives us in Swarm, and has given us in previous books, is the meticulous repair of the cracks, the ambitious return to the once-bright hues of the abandoned fresco." - Miami Herald