Nominated for the Nike Award, the Cogito Award, & the Gdynia Award.
In his triumphant collection, The Folding Star and Other Poems, poet of the imagination Jacek Gutorow offers thirty-one gems that will help change our understanding of Polish poetry.
“His poems are meditative and beautiful, his diction fragile and clear...In short, it is a lovely book.” —Hey Small Press
“The ability of poetry to deal with nearly any topic and to tell little stories encapsulated in a few lines has long been a tradition of the Poles and an area they’ve displayed exceptional expertise. Gutorow has placed himself strongly within this tradition but in the most contemporary sense.” ―Gently Read Literature
From this collection:
“I fell in love with language again this evening.
The excess of reality had left me stranded.
The stairs with littered with phrases and headwind.
The clock struck reticent midnight.
I roamed from the forest of nouns to the valley of adverbs
and even farther, to the vast plateau of pronouns.
There, in a building of gold-yellow walls (matte latex),
mallows and loudly climbing roses were in charge.
Tracks like phrases that turn back upon themselves.
A beach was put together with a few words that hurt the eyes
with dirty foam. In the western sky a streak left behind by a rickety jet
and its commas beginning to fray.
But that was earlier,
before I again fell in love with language
that stood there mute in the wind.”