il cuore : the heart
Selected Poems 1970-1995

Kathleen Fraser

Introduction by Peter Quartermain


the year of grey shadow, the large shape behind it, the year
of breaking thread around the boundayr, the primacy of
embroidered meanings, petal of each pool and mouth, poppies
opening in spite of every border or the yellow diminishing.

il cuore : the heart is a major new collection of poetry by Kathleen Fraser, one of the most significant poets of the last generation and a writer of unusual courage and inventiveness. From the intimacy of early poems to the syntactic play of her much-praised book, when new time folds up (1993), Fraser's work examines fields of possibility, where the visual, theoretical, and lyrical collide. This book provides a generous selection of work both new and old, tracing the development of her poetics over the last three decades. Rich with detail, these poems radicalize intention by embracing error, as in "boundayr," and reassert language innovation as a feminist strategy. They lead us toward "the infinity of a door only slightly ajar" and have established Fraser as one of America's preeminent experimental writers.

"Fraser's work examines fields of possibility where the visual, theoretical, and lyrical collide."--Carol Muske, New York Times Book Review
Kathleen Fraser, author of 14 books of poetry, was Professor of Creative Writing at San Francisco State University from 1972 to 1992, Director of the Poetry Center, founder of American Poetry Archives, and editor of the feminist/experimentalist poetry journal HOW(ever). She lives part of each year in Italy.

Wesleyan Poetry Series
Wesleyan University Press

September 1997

216 pp. 6 x 9"
Cloth, 0-8195-2244-9. $35.00x
Paper, 0-8195-2245-7. $16.95
Poetry / Women's Studies

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