As the executive editor of a literary journal, I read
hundreds of submissions a year. Every once in a while, we’re lucky enough to
receive work from an author who makes us stand up and take notice. Ann Taylor
is one of those authors. Her chapbook The River Within (winner of the inaugural
Cathlamet Prize for Poetry from Ravenna Press) has everything I love in poetry.
Her language is precise and controlled yet maintains a fluid, musical quality.
While her poems are succinct in size, they are large enough in scope to reflect
life-truths about matters great and small.
It’s no surprise that I love the historical references in
Taylor’s poems. She touches on everything from “Cleopatra’s Conquest” to “Annie
Oakley: Peerless Lady Wing-Shot,” and she even introduces us to “Jenny and
Charles,” which refers to Charles Darwin and his favorite orangutan at the
London Zoo. But while history plays an important role in many of Taylor’s
poems, we’re also treated to her thoughts about the natural world, about her
family, and about her university students. As a long-time teacher myself, I
related strongly to her poem “Spectral” about how she lives on in the minds of
her students as their “reading ghost” long after they’ve finished her class.
Most literature teachers hope to have such far-reaching influences on their
students. And I must admit to a special attachment to “To Carry on With the
Dying” since we chose it for our 10th Anniversary Edition of The Copperfield
Review.
The River Within is an excellent example of a talented poet at the top of her game. Whether you love history, mythology, travel, the natural world, or your family, you will find poetry that suits your fancy in The River Within.
