Extra Hidden Life, among the Days

Brenda Hillman's new book, Among the Days, is a visionary and critically important work that meditates on trees, bacteria, wasps, buildings, roots, and stars, offering a discipline of love and service to the world. A free reader's companion is available online.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 152 pages
Publication date: 05 January 2021
Publisher: University Press of New England

Brenda Hillman's new book opens in a place of profound mourning and attentive listening, embarking on a transformative journey that spans both the ordinary and the extraordinary. Through a series of poems that are at once plain and transcendent, she delves into the essence of trees, bacteria, wasps, buildings, roots, and stars, culminating in twinned elegies and poems of praise that unlock spaces both magical and archetypal within the human imagination. These spaces include forests and seashores, evoking a sense of wonder and longing.

As is characteristic of Hillman's work, her vision is entirely original, her forms inventive and playful. At times, the language takes on a feral quality as the poet navigates her way toward other consciousnesses, embracing the vastness of planetary time. This is poetry as a discipline of love and service to the world, guiding us through the depths of grief and leading us toward an ethics of active resistance.

Hillman's prior books, such as Practical Water and Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire, have received prestigious accolades, including the Griffin Prize for Poetry. Her latest offering, Among the Days, is a visionary and critically important work for our time. An accompanying free reader's companion is available online at http://brendahillman.site.wesleyan.edu, providing additional insights and perspectives to enhance the reading experience.

The book itself is presented in hardcover, without a jacket.

Weight: 346g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780819578945