The Consolations by John W. Evans

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"John W. Evans's poems arrive, depart, and arrive once more to (re)witness and reach again and again toward the end of a life, toward a voice to cross it. They celebrate and they h old the rift. Two months, eight months, four months, eighteen months--the scansion of grief uses temporal signposts to mark the trails, record the journey...The Consolations gives us the memory of broken hymn and the broken hymn itself--reverent and haunting." - Mihaela Moscaliuc, Trio Award Judge, author of Father Dirt"In The Consolations, John W. Evans comes to terms with the tragic death of his first wife, Katie. This is a moving record of Evans's struggle with 'a grief that never entirely wells up or washes away.' Because his account of grief is faithful and unflinching, we can also trust that the consolations he finds (in faith, in art, in family) are very real. Evans affirms that true solace accommodates sorrow, and therefore lets love continue." - Katy Didden, author of The Glacier's Wake"This elegiac collection is dirge and ode, heroic and everyday, gorgeous and unsentimental. Evans has crafted transcending poetic forms in which he holds his beloveds. The Consolations makes you realize that some things can only truly be uttered in poetry." - Denise Duhamel, author of Blowout"These powerful poems carve out a unique space between elegy and celebration; describing loss but never yielding to it. They draw the reader into a natural and social world seen and spoken in a vernacular of grief which makes a fresh perspective at every turn. This is a compelling new collection." - Eavan Boland, author of A Journey With Two Maps"In The Consolations, John W. Evans guides the reader through a fiercely intimate journey of grief and love...The Consolations is a beautiful and exciting collection. Evans harnesses a great power of poetry: in the face of the unspeakable, he finds the words."--Chloe Honum, On the Seawall Show more