Two poets: Emilie Buchwald reads from "The Moment’s Only Moment," and Margaret Hasse reads from "Between Us"

The world Emilie Buchwald’s poems conjure in The Moment’s Only Moment is a union of heart and head. These poems illuminate the everyday, interrogate personal history, and evoke the essence of places traveled and people encountered, remembered, cherished. As Pattiann Rogers comments, “Each poem focuses on an occasion, a moment of discovery or joy, regret or reverie, moments simple and profound. Her language, filled with music and cadence and clear, sharp imagery, is exquisite as she evokes each scene and circumstance, layering a subtle undercurrent of loss with camaraderie and wit, curiosity, and keen insight.” A constant thread in The Moment’s Only Moment is the imperative to be awake and aware during one’s passage through time--to live a life that’s fully inhabited, a life that seeks meaning and kindles memories.

Emilie Buchwald has been a lively presence on the literary scene since she cofounded the literary journal Milkweed Chronicle in 1980. Its companion publisher Milkweed Editions became one of the most respected literary presses in the nation. Buchwald also made a name for herself as the author of children’s books and a fierce defender of environmental and activist literature. Her poetry and prose have appeared in numerous publications. She has edited or coedited several poetry anthologies and is the author of two children’s novels and two children’s picture books. Currently, she is the publisher and editor of The Gryphon Press, now in its tenth year.

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Between Us, Margaret Hasse’s new book, brings her distinctive, lyrical, and intimate voice to bear on a range of experiences and states of being. She writes equally well, with precision and surprise, about connections with the natural world and with people. In poems about camping and hiking in the wilderness, we hear the song of invisible birds and the communal hum of insects. In the forest, where deer appear with their “black-walnut eyes” to graze new grass, Hasse concludes: “Today I believe everything." This expression of joy in the unexpected gifts of daily life is one of the hallmarks of the collection.

The events Hasse writes about are often commonplace--riding a bike, knitting a scarf, downsizing possessions--but you can be sure they will be transformed by her rendering of the tender interior, the nuance of emotion, the single essential but often overlooked detail. Other poems introduce a somber or anguished tone by exploring life’s difficulties and damage, such as mourning loss of a long-time friendship, encountering a student who cuts herself, and revisiting Jacob Wetterling’s kidnapping.  

Margaret Hasse lives with her husband and sons in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she works in the community arts and teaches. She is the recipient of literary fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Minnesota State Arts Board, and McKnight Foundation through The Loft Literary Center. Between Us is her fifth book of poetry.