How bend these sinews of my art & on what anvil? -Jack Kerouac The poems in Ribbon Anvil were written in the months leading up to and after the end of an abusive relationship. The poems are quiet. They were written in the moments in between the difficult times, the restraining orders and court dates, the lawyers and arguments, the sundering of a family and the beginning of a new life. The difficult times are in the shadows of these poems, much the way a woman says everything is fine, really. The book's title was prompted from a quote by Jack Kerouac in Book of Dreams, that crazy kaleidoscope stream of consciousness writing. The wildness of Kerouac suited the crazy times and helped a fledgling writer discover the possibilities of language. Coupling anvil, the hard metal weight against which new things are forged with something soft and pliable like ribbon seemed like the perfect juxtaposition of elements. Ribbon Anvil is divided into three sections: Work, Substance, and Tensegrity. Work is the action, Substance the material, and Tensegrity a concept of Buckminster Fuller, a combination of tension and integrity applied to structure. The framework of Ribbon Anvil carries the road map of a new life. "Ribbon Anvil...displays great beauty and uncommon twinges of longing...crisp images and unsoftened edges...signatures of poetic roundness and hard work-amazing!" Nicki Miller, American University, Washington, DC "Lawson pens poetry with rich imagery and emotional resonance." Doug Holder, Ibbetson Street Press "The sumptuous images in Lawson's poetry flow effortlessly, we can almost drink them. Her book is well worth reading, again and again." Ernie Wight, Ibbetson Street Press Ribbon Anvil, Finalist for "Best Poetry Publication," Cambridge Poetry Awards
About the Author: Valerie Lawson's work has been published in Main Street Rag, BigCityLit, About Place Journal, The Catch, Ibbetson Street, and others. Lawson's first book, Dog Watch, was released in 2007. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize three times, Lawson won awards for Best Narrative Poem and Spoken Word at the Cambridge Poetry Awards and was a finalist for the 2015 Rita Dove Award. Lawson co-edits Off the Coast literary journal, served on the board of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and was also one of the founding organizers of the Iota Short Prose Conference held on Campobello Island, New Brunswick every summer. Valerie has worked as a bookseller, once worked as a security guard at a Rolls Royce show in Newport, emceed the National Poetry Slam in Sweden, and participated in cultural exchanges with Ireland. Valerie and her partner Michael Brown live on Passamaq uoddy Bay in Downeast Maine with a pair of Siberian Huskies. Contact the author: valerie.lawson@maine.edu Website: valerie-lawson.com