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Tony Fusco notes that “Laura Altshul views the world with a discerning eye, finding art and metaphor in the sublime as well as in the everyday world.’ He adds this: “Rich in understanding and astute in questioning, she presents her findings in clear and discernible poems. Through her uniquely compassionate lens, the world of nature comes to life in new and illuminating ways, as does the world mankind has created, be it in the form of beer cans or peace rallies. This is a book to embrace, one by which you will be enlightened.” For her part, Vivian Shipley adds, “Laura Altshul’s Looking Out combines moving poems of introspection with those that offer close observation of the outer world. She is able to be at one with the natural world and also has an electric way of submerging herself in the lives of others. Adept at achieving Keatsian 'negative capability,' she often projects herself into other speakers to give us insight into their struggles for survival. However, not all her portraits are entirely sympathetic, as when she describes a mother-in-law who 'swanned in fur and jewels, demanding homage.' Altshul’s language never wilts because she excels in selecting precise and imaginative diction, and she is a master of the telling detail. In a searing poem about the war in Syria, she makes the devastation graphic and personal by focusing on a cup of coffee covered in cement and plaster 'from the blast.' Read these magnificent poems with care as if you were gathering shells, and in each one you will find 'a shell within a shell, a wondrous surprise.' ”
Laura Altshul is a Vassar graduate with a Master’s degree in Literature. She has taught in the Great Books program and at college, high school, and elementary levels. She currently tutors and serves on non-profit boards focused on providing educational and arts experiences for New Haven’s children whose families don’t ordinarily have access to these opportunities. Her first collection of poetry, Searching for the Northern Lights, was published by Antrim House in 2015, as was her second collection, Bodies Passing (2017) . Her poems have been published in Connecticut River Review, Forgotten Women: A Tribute in Poetry, The Perch, Serving House Journal, and Unlocking the Word: An Anthology of Found Poetry. New poems are forthcoming in Pulse and Our Changing Environment. Her poems have won prizes from The Connecticut Poetry Society, The Hamden Arts Commission, The New York Poetry Society, The Tennessee Poetry Society, and The Utah Poetry Society. She was the featured poet in the half hour public television series Speaking of Poetry, Episode 36, and has given readings throughout Connecticut. She co-leads the New Haven Chapter of the Connecticut Poetry Society with her husband, Victor Altshul. Together they have seven children and eleven grandchildren.
Click here for sample poems. |
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