Liz Waldner: Reaching for Form Beyond Narrative
I loved Etym(bi)ology. Some of the work is pre-apologetically termed "experimental." Don't be frightened by this. Poetry's genius is the ability to say much with little. Liz Waldner is excellent at doing this. There are bits that are a little free-form, and other parts are heartbreakingly true to my own experience of life. Some are both.Were I an instructor of poetry, for any age level but especially high school or college, I would assign Liz Waldner as a poet to explore when YOU want to explore. I think her true ability lies in leaving the confines of simple narrative and moving into the way our minds actually work and process information and feelings. And unlike e.e. cummings, to whom you might compare this poet, Waldner embraces science, refreshingly not only for its conclusions but as a source of raw inspiration. Read Liz Waldner and you may grow to understand what is happening in poetry today, and perhaps inside your own mind.