The first sighting was on Sarah James' blog, with these good words: "The poems in Carrie Etter’s The Weather in Normal (Seren) are powerful compressions, beautifully whittled onto the page, where the white space allows each line to unfold to way more than its literal size and force. Family, place and climate change are all set in even sharper focus by the crafted space between the lines – for thought, emotion, linking – that gives each image, each word choice, each evoked emotion that much greater impact. And that’s without even touching on the narrative arcs across the collection’s three sections giving further depth and meaning!"
James' blog review was soon followed by Eileen Tabios with the first review of the US edition. As she concludes, "Etter has written a poignant collection of poems, worth searching for and reading. We all should pay attention to tales coming out of the anthropocene. It takes understanding of damage to mitigate damage, and as Etter notes about the “I” of each of us: “I, the world’s curse.”
This brings us to today's appearance of Martin Stannard's review of The Weather in Normal for Stride, in which the book happily overcomes a number of his prejudices. The next time I'm feeling disheartened, I'll have to reread the opening sentence of his conclusion: "It’s well-nigh impossible to convey with quotation how Etter’s use of language, form, restraint and space combine to such impressive effect." It feels like TWiN is off to a good start!