Jody Gladding Books

An innovative and inviting book of poems about the places where language and landscape converge In this strongly visual and environmentally engaged collection, award-winning poet and translator Jody Gladding explores landscape as a source of language in lyrics that operate as physical acts in three-dimensional space. Composed and printed in a landscape format, these minimal, quiet, playful, meditative, and open-ended poems are experimental in form and inviting in subject. Drawing inspiration from poets like A. R. Ammons, Lorine Niedecker, Gustaf Sobin, and Jean Valentine, and visual artists like Ann Hamilton, Roni Horn, and Cecilia Vicuña, Gladding discovers exciting spatial possibilities within the page itself by exploiting white space and varying typefaces. As the page opens into the compositional field that Mallarmé, Ponge, and others conceived it to be, words constellate around bolded through lines to offer multiple, interwoven meanings, interacting with each other and the reader, who moves freely among them, to make poems that are spatial, nonlinear, and different with each reading. And, adding yet another dimension to the collection, many of the poems have facing-page French versions. “Landscape-oriented” in every sense, I entered without words is an ambitious, innovative, and striking collection by a major poet.

The book presents a haunting narrative that captivates readers with its intense atmosphere and thought-provoking themes. It explores profound emotions and experiences, leaving a lasting impression through its evocative language and imagery. The author's unique style and perspective invite readers to reflect on deeper truths, making it a compelling read for those seeking a transformative literary experience.

Exploring the connection between humanity and nature, the poems delve into environments of northern Vermont and southern France, blurring the lines between subject and object. Each piece gives voice to natural elements, like a vernal pool or a beam of light, infused with humor and intellectual curiosity. Linked poems reflect on garden vegetables and draw inspiration from "The Medieval Handbook," while a mother-daughter journey to France's cave paintings highlights the timelessness of art. Jody Gladding emerges as a literary successor to prominent poets.

Merging memoir, biography, and cultural history, this distinctive book, a bestseller in France, traces the life of Dora Maar (1907-1997) through a serendipitous encounter with the artist's address book.

»Eine kunstvolle Schatzsuche« – L‘Express Dora Maar, lange Zeit nur als »Muse und Geliebte« von Pablo Picasso bekannt, erhält mit dieser außergewöhnlichen Künstlerbiografie endlich ein eigenes Gesicht. Brigitte Benkemoun rekonstruiert während ihrer zwei Jahre andauernden Recherche anhand eines zufällig entdeckten Adressbüchleins das Leben und Lieben dieser rätselhaften Frau, die zu den großen Fotografinnen ihrer Zeit gehörte. Unterwegs erfährt man nicht nur von Dora Maars ereignisreichem und geheimnisvollen Lebensweg, sondern erhält auch intime Einblicke in eine der spannendsten Epochen der Kunstgeschichte.