Tanya

“Juicy models of lyrical reasoning, [Shaughnessy’s poems] bring together wordplay and rhetoric … The poems have a fertile restlessness. They don’t settle into epiphanies but continue layering, swerving, branching, reconsidering … Her vibrant dives into the possibilities of [the self] invest it with multitudes … In the Shaughnessy multiverse, everything contains everything else, or has that capacity … Femaleness and iterations of feminism provide a framework for “Tanya.” The collection can be seen in part as a version of midlife stock-taking, via odes to women artists, mentors, lovers, frenemies and former selves … Shaughnessy [traces] her own derivation and education through myriad mothers, stretching definitions of “mother” to include frictions, crushes, heartbreaks and inspirations that became part of her DNA … Chief among the new book’s many subjects are love, absence and loss: how to live with or without them … [Shaughnessy] writes about love as being “timelessness itself”. This is a book in which the poet’s ability “to imagine and to wonder/fiercely” never flags.” —Amy Gerstler, New York Times “A probing, richly rendered collection of poems … a reflection on women artists as friends, mentors, and influencers…Shaughnessy relentlessly sifts and shifts through our image making, seeking clarity while recognizing that life is ‘not a straight story or a jagged line.’ Meanwhile, she celebrates the eponymous Tanya, wanting to ‘repair the path between us.’ A remarkable book achieving all its ambitions.” —Library Journal (starred review)“Shaughnessy’s poignant latest (after The Octopus Museum) honors the women artists who have inspired her own creative journey while delving deeply into memories of formative relationships … This generous and moving volume is a dazzling celebration of the mentors who spark creative life.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Brenda Shaughnessy is the Okinawan-Irish American author of five previous books of poetry, including The Octopus Museum and Our Andromeda. The recipient of a 2018 Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rutgers University-Newark, Shaughnessy lives with her family in New Jersey.

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