"In Kathryn Kysar's poems, culture and history become an umbilical cord burrowed deep into Midwestern soil, spiraling and reemerging, literally, in China. These are poems that merge landscape and interiority to re-inspire life. What results is a voice strong and delicate as a nexus of white tree branches mid-winter, emanating poem after gorgeous poem that in total whisper like wind over land and water the constant reminder: "we are all learning to leave." Profound, wise, playful, Kysar is a rare and amazing poet. A beautiful, awesome book of graces to be wildly celebrated."
- Purchase
- Holy Cow! Press
- Indie bound
- Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis – Independent bookstore
- Next Chapter in St. Paul, MN – Independent bookstore
- Pretend the World is also available through Amazon.
- Reviews
- Selected Poems (Text)
- Selected Poems (Video by Artist Jes Lee)
- “Hand Sisters”
- “Love Poem”
- “Japanese Garden”
- “The Storm”
- Other videos
- Kris Bigalk reads “The Effects of Loud Rock and Roll on the Unborn Fetus”
- John Minczeski reads “Love Poem”
- David Lawrence Grant reads “German”
- John Reimringer reads “When Pigs Fly: Kurt’s Diary”
- Ka Vangs reads “Salvation”
- Ed Bok Lee reads “The Day Ten People Died at Red Lake”
- Wang Ping reads “Eating Sushi with Robert Bly and Sam Hamill”
- Jim Heynen reads “Faultlines”
- Kathryn Kysar reads “Wichita Cockroaches”
- Stephanie Wilber Ash reads “Monkey on the Wire”
- Stephanie Wilber Ash reads “Frederica the Aging Flamenco Dancer”
- Katrina Vandenberg reads “Early Spring/Dark Lake”
- Anna George Meek sings “Last October”
- Interviews
- Articles about Pretend the World Art Exhibit
"The spirited poems in Kathryn Kysar's Pretend the World radiate a lyric vitality as they explore the world of nature, motherhood, sexuality, and celebrate the lost bounty of the past."