Thicket

Poetry. Women's Studies. Cate Peebles' debut book of poems, THICKET, is deft and ideal in its pertinence to our current moment while also reaching both back and beyond itself. In the long poem, The Woodlands, Peebles writes: When the flood comes / we will be on our phones / searching for how / to save ourselves from / the flood. The sigh of recognition, of so true, will be a constant companion for readers of THICKET. Peebles considers the female figure in the world in this #MeToo moment. What a masterful, mysterious first book. I love these poems for their totally clear, dream-like permeability. I am particularly blown away by the long poem that anchors the book, 'The Woodlands, ' which has an extraordinary, tender wildness: it reminds me of my favorite surrealist novels, while also managing somehow to be deeply personal. I look forward to reading these poems, again and again, with growing admiration and joy.--Matthew Zapruder