All That Divides Us: Poems Volume 3

By Elinor Benedict

Although the poems in this collection are not narrative, they do present a narrative, gradually unspooling the tale of the poet's rebel aunt, who left the family "to marry a Chinaman" in the 1930s. It's an old story, full of poignancy, mystery, family pride, and doubt. When the aunt returns to die, the poet, now grown, discovers in herself the need to reclaim the connections that her family had severed. She travels to China several times-to learn. Gradually, through wide-eyed insightful poems, we see the poet rebuild with her Chinese cousins a sense of generation, family, and humanity-bridging over all that that divides us. Elinor Benedict has also received the Mademoiselle Fiction Prize, a Michigan Council for the Arts Award, and an Editor's Grant from the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines (CLMP). She earned an M.F.A. in writing from Vermont College and her work has also appeared in various literary journals and in five chapbooks.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874214068
• ISBN13: 9780874214062
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Utah State University Press
• Length: 67 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 17 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Fresh Images

This collection of poems piques the reader's senses and maintains interest throughout. The narrative with compelling characterizations keeps the reader moving along and even identifying with the mysterious Chinese aunt and her family in the United States. It is one of those rare books of poetry which you want to read to the very end without putting it down, and yet to enjoy stopping and mulling over individual poems. The encounters between Buddhist, Christian, and Confucian elements lend universal significance. This is the best poetry on today's literary scene.

Hope & Caring & Sharing

This book is the winner of the May Swenson Poetry Award for 2000. While not a narrative poem, the story of the author's aunt that married a "Chinaman" and left her family only to return when she was dying, is as close as one can get. The poems tell of the author's need for connections and a sense of family and humanity that are inspiring and eternal. The bridge over all that divides us is, after all, built on hope and caring and sharing. A Marvelous collection.