Structure & Surprise

Matthew Guenette has a terrific short review of Julie Hanson’s Unbeknownst in the latest issue of IO: A Journal of New American Poetry.  Check it out here.

What’s cool about the review is its focus on poetic structure and surprise.  Guenette opens his review by stating, “You don’t have to read far into Unbeknownst, Julie Hanson’s Iowa Prize winning book, to find a thrilling turn.”  And, further on, he notes, “The best poems organize themselves around major shifts that generate surprise.”

Hanson’s poems seem well worth checking out.  Here are a couple to get you started:

“Use the Book”

“Remedial Weeding”

“They are Widening the Road”