katrina roberts

FRIENDLY FIRE

THE QUICK

HOW LATE DESIRE LOOKS

Katrina Roberts has published three books of poems; her fourth is forthcoming from the University of Washington Press. Her first book, How Late Desire Looks, won the Peregrine Smith Prize. The Quick, her second book, was chosen by Linda Bierds for the Pacific Northwest Poetry Series (University of Washington Press), and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Her third book, Friendly Fire, was selected by Robin Becker as the winner of the Idaho Prize for Poetry 2007, and published by Lost Horse Press in 2008; it was as well a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Her work has appeared in anthologies such as Best American Poetry; The Pushcart Book of Poetry: The Best Poems from the First 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize; The Bread Loaf Anthology of New American Poets; Never Before: Poems About First Experiences; Long Journey: Pacific Northwest Poets; and Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction. Her poems have been included in journals such as Basalt, New Orleans Review, Antioch Review, Ploughshares, RUNES, New England Review, Sonora Review, The Journal, and Orion.

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UNDERDOG

FRIENDLY FIRE
"This is a gorgeous, amazing book. I’ve been an admirer of Katrina Roberts’s poems for years and these poems confirm my long-standing affection. Buy this book now."

—Sherman Alexie, winner of the National Book Award 2007

THE QUICK
"The ambitious centerpiece of Katrina Roberts's THE QUICK is 'Cantata," a poem in ten parts that chronicles the body's journey from conception through birth, combining Bishop's concision with Whitman's vision. A new mother song that is vital, tough, transcendent, and real."

-- Dorianne Laux, author of Facts About the Moon

"Like the title of this brilliant collection, these poems reveal a quick linguistic dexterity as they expose the raw and most sensitive flesh of human earthiness. But there is nothing quick or surface about these elegant poems. Expect to linger as you would to welcome the missive of 'a heron [who] dips into a quiet pool/the wind has made of sticks,' or to ponder the miracle of birth."

-- Joy Harjo, author of She Had Some Horses

HOW LATE DESIRE LOOKS
"Katrina Roberts's richly wide-ranging collection of poems lives at the intersection of precision and song. Her work holds the complex intelligence of language as well as the complex intelligence of the heart. Clarity and abundance fill every page."

-- Jane Hirshfield, author of After