Skillman, Judith: Kafka's Shadow

Kafka's Shadow by Judith Skillman (Deerbrook Editions, paperback)

Publication Date: February 1, 2017

Publisher Marketing: Poetry. "I have been drawn to Judith Skillman's work for three decades, ever since her first book, Worship of the Visible Spectrum. In her latest volume, she inhabits the mind of Franz Kafka, as well as some of those who loomed large in his life: family members, would-be sweethearts, his editors. We thus see the world in the outré, off-kilter way that Kafka seems to have—as if the lenses of his eyes worked differently than most people's, letting in a light that few can focus. In KAFKA'S SHADOW, he sees edges that others don't, edges that cut him off from taking part in 'normal' life—pleasing his father, marrying, performing work that others consider productive. Skillman's use of internal rhyme in many of these poems exemplifies how Kafka's world, while being initially recognizable as our own, resonates on another frequency, bringing music sharp and unfamiliar to our ears. This book gives us a deeper knowledge of Kafka as a person and artist, of his times and difficulties in finding his place. Though he loved peonies, we see the thistles that grew around him."—Michael Spence, author of Umbilical, winner of The New Criterion Poetry Prize

"Reading Skillman's poems, I felt more acutely my own desire to be fully alive, the pressing realities of beauty and loss."—John Amen, editor of The Pedestal Magazine

"...readers will encounter the intelligence and honesty of the real thing."—Brendan Galvin