“Sensual and unabashed, Suzanne Roberts’ poems draw you into a world where “it isn’t enough to walk over/ the bridge. You must/ look under it, see how/wind distorts your reflection.” Roberts walks with you “in the space between dripping ferns,” takes you where “the leaving becomes/part of the other world, / of sleep, of dreams,” where “dawn unties/ the earth from sky.” Nothing to You is an arresting collection of poems where the poet’s gaze is unblinking even as she admits, “I should look away now, but don’t.”
--Sholeh Wolpé, author of The Scar Saloon and Rooftops of Tehran
“Suzanne Roberts weaves together restlessness, travel experiences, and a healthy strand of suspicion, creating a tapestry both intriguing and mysterious. Often conversational with suggestive language, rife with images yet understated, Roberts' poems promise adventures both physical and mental, grand and private, cloaked in an atmosphere of spoiled romance and esthetic longing.”
--Stephen Reichert, Editor, Smartish Pace
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| Front cover for "Shameless" |
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| Back cover for "Shameless" |
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“Usually, if one is shameless, she is defined by her bold lack of shame, her refusal to conduct herself with a sense of decency—she is perhaps a shameless liar, a shameless promoter, a shameless hussy. But Suzanne Roberts' poetry embraces the sexual journeys of her narrators, reclaiming "shamelessness," as a place in which there is no shame, where there should be no shame. Roberts' voice is instead full of sass, savoir-fare, and self-confidence as her lyrical and narrative intermingle. Her control of the line, her exact and surprising imagery make her poems deliciously complex. Shameless is a powerful, sensuous romp—intimate, funny, honest.”
--Denise Duhamel, author of Two and Two, Kinky, Queen for a Day, and Mille et un sentiments, Oyl, and The Star-Spangled Banner.
“Suzanne Roberts' narrator intuits the subtle psychological borders that determine our behavior, especially when it comes to sexual love. Not only do her poems insinuate themselves into the hidden, unbound fields of play between people encountering each other, but they explore the rules each individual person plays by, even when that person doesn't know it herself. Her tightly controlled free verse poems set us on a strange, revelatory ride into the self.”
--Kevin Clark, author of In the Evening of No Warning and In the Mind's Eye
“Suzanne Roberts' most recent collection, Shameless, contains poems of infinite scope, taking us to places we long to visit but, normally, refuse to book passage, simply because the price is too high for the self-discovery the journey offers. Here, however, the poet graciously agrees to peel away the protection we often employ, demanding "seven layers of larval skin" from her readers who are fortunate enough to take the trip.”
--Bart Edelman, author of The Last Mojito, Gentle Man and Alphabet of Love, and editor of Eclipse
“Despite its brassy, sassy title, Suzanne Roberts' Shameless is a deadly serious book. Roberts takes the reader on a journey through heartbreak and loneliness to a brighter, stronger place. Her poems are haunting in their understatement. Intimate, longing with memory but recognizing the sober present, Shameless is a vital book of poems.”
--Kevin Walzer, Editor of Wordtech Communications and author of Greater Circles and Austere Offices
“Using vibrant short lines, this poem’s (“Verbs of Being”) unusual architecture offers us the rich lexicon of its sensual imagery.”
--Paulann Peterson, author of The Wild Awake, Blood Silk, and A Bride of Narrow Escape
“Suzanne Roberts’ “Hesitation” is one of my favorites for its subtle capturing of infidelity through a landscape’s details and a few human gestures.”
--NEWPAGES.COM
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