Half Light

The collected works of one of contemporary poetry’s most original voices Gathered together, the poems of Frank Bidart perform one of the most remarkable transmutations of the body into language in contemporary literature. His pages represent the human voice in all its extreme registers, whether it’s that of the child-murderer Herbert White, the obsessive anorexic Ellen West, the tormented genius Vaslav Nijinsky, or the poet’s own. And in that embodiment is a transgressive empathy, one that recognizes our wild appetites, the monsters, the misfits, the misunderstood among us and inside us. Few writers have so willingly ventured to the dark places of the human psyche and allowed themselves to be stripped bare on the page with such candor and vulnerability. Over the past half century, Bidart has done nothing less than invent a poetics commensurate with the chaos and appetites of our experience. Half-light encompasses all of Bidart’s previous books, and also includes a new collection, Thirst, in which the poet austerely surveys his life, laying it plain for us before venturing into something new and unknown. Here Bidart finds himself a “Creature coterminous with thirst,” still longing, still searching in himself, one of the “queers of the universe.” Visionary and revelatory, intimate and unguarded, Bidart’s Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2017 are a radical confrontation with human nature, a conflict eternally renewed and reframed, restless line by restless line.

Stumbling in the Half-Light follows a self-professed “chubby little half-breed” from the Six Nations reservation as he embarks on a lifetime of spiritual adventures within the Baha’i community. Through fifty-two short, autobiographical stories, John Sargent retells a life of humour, humility, loss, and faith. John’s endearing openness leads him through a life of adventure—from a childhood on the reserve, to years in Africa, to a career in architecture and finally as an administrator of First Nations communities. But his real calling: was to bring the Baha’i faith to First Nations communities throughout North America. Some of the reviewers of the manuscript had this to say about Stumbling in the Half-Light:

Includes an audio CD of the author reading! For nearly four decades, Juan Felipe Herrera has documented his experience as a Chicano in the United States and Latin America through stunning, memorable poetry that is both personal and universal in its impact, themes, and approach. Often political, never fainthearted, his career has been marked by tremendous virtuosity and a unique sensibility for uncovering the unknown and the unexpected. Through a variety of stages and transformations, Herrera has evolved more than almost any other Chicano poet, always re-inventing himself into a more mature and seasoned voice. Now, in this unprecedented collection, we encounter the trajectory of this highly innovative and original writer, bringing the full scope of his singular vision into view. Beginning with early material from A Certain Man and moving through thirteen of his collections into new, previously unpublished work, this assemblage also includes an audio CD of the author reading twenty-four selected poems aloud. Serious scholars and readers alike will now have available to them a representative set of glimpses into his production as well as his origins and personal development. The ultimate value of bringing together such a collection, however, is that it will allow us to better understand and appreciate the complexity of what this major American poet is all about.

Stumbling in the Half-Light follows a self-professed “chubby little half-breed” from the Six Nations reservation as he embarks on a lifetime of spiritual adventures within the Baha’i community. Through fifty-two short, autobiographical stories, John Sargent retells a life of humour, humility, loss, and faith. John’s endearing openness leads him through a life of adventure—from a childhood on the reserve, to years in Africa, to a career in architecture and finally as an administrator of First Nations communities. But his real calling: was to bring the Baha’i faith to First Nations communities throughout North America. Some of the reviewers of the manuscript had this to say about Stumbling in the Half-Light:

From the author of the Oprah Book Club Selection An American Marriage, here is an emotionally powerful novel that "succeeds mightily...truly a wonderful story" (Boston Globe). Aria is no stranger to tragedy -- as a young girl, she and her older sister and mother survived a car crash that took the lives of their father and beloved baby sister. And although relations with her remaining family are strained, she's done her best to establish a solid, normal life for herself, living in Atlanta and teaching literacy to girls who have fallen on hard times. But now she has a secret that she's not yet ready to share with Dwayne, her devoted boyfriend, or Rochelle, her roommate and best friend: Aria is pregnant. Or so she thinks. The truth is about to make her question her every assumption and reevaluate the life she has worked so hard to build for herself...as it sends her reeling in a direction she had no idea she was destined to go. Praise for Tayari Jones "Tayari Jones is blessed with vision to see through to the surprising and devastating truths at the heart of ordinary lives, strength to wrest those truths free, and a gift of language to lay it all out, compelling and clear." -- Michael Chabon "Tayari Jones has emerged as one of the most important voices of her generation." -- Essence "One of America's finest writers." -- Nylon.com "Tayari Jones is a wonderful storyteller." -- Ploughshares

She just wants a normal life, but as a phase-shifter things are always complicated. Her friends each seem to hide a secret, but hers could get them all killed. Dylan has a problem - she is only as solid as the light around her, and she doesn't know how she does it. Whether by instinct or desire, she seeks out the shadows and other dark places that let her disappear. It helped in her job as a Night Courier, delivering high-value black-market packages to unnamed people. It made her unstoppable, rare, and valuable. Turning to smoke or vapour would seem like a good thing when it happens in dark and dangerous places, but she feared losing herself to it. She enlists the help of a former police officer to help her leave the life of shadows and danger behind. Unaware of her true identity, he changes Dylan's name to Simone and assigns her a babysitting job, watching over a cafe owner name Carol. As Simone, she works as a waitress, hoping to keep her own secret while helping those around her and finding a semblance of a normal life. As she discovers more mysteries around her, she wonders if anyone truly has a normal life. When she meets a man with the ability to negate her mutation, she is intrigued, but he seems to be more of a complication than friend. He can track her, and finds ways to interfere with what she's doing. She can't tell if it's intentional, or why and how he finds her. Now Dylan has more secrets than she knows what to do with, and her past has tracked her down.

Half Light Elisabeth is a restorer of paintings, delighting in her work as she coaxes secrets from damaged canvas. One day she disappears. Her lover Francis, his fears dismissed by the police, searches for her with the help of Annie Macalpine, an antiques dealer. Annie finds out that Elisabeth is trapped in an elegant prison, restoring art for a wealthy collector, whose grip on reality is giving way as his grip on Elisabeth is tightening... Let's Dance Isabel Burley returns to her childhood home to look after her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease. Serena is prey to the threats of failing memory, her inability to run her own home - and the local villains who are eyeing her isolated house. But Isabel finds that a further threat comes from within, as the two women struggle with their love/hate relationship that has roots deep into the past.