Lingo

In ""Foreword,"" the opening poem of Clare Rossini’s new book, Lingo, the poet exclaims: ""Don’t tell me the tongue’s / Not a magical place."" And who would argue the point after reading these poems in which the body and spirit of language bring such joy, from a toddler’s garbled imitations to the ripe lines of Shakespeare? Whether in the Midwest or New England, in elegies or celebrations, Rossini takes comfort in the miracle of words, where the homely and exotic can flourish at the same time, like the thought of flamingoes in Minnesota (""Rice County Soliloquy""). Rossini treats both the human and the natural world with tenderness and good-hearted humor, her wit and compassion as impressive as the bravura of plainspoken poetry. Out of such grace come the graceful poems of Lingo.

A native of Saint Paul, Clare Rossini is on the faculties of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Vermont College, Montpelier. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including The Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, Poetry, and The Best American Poetry series. She has received fellowships from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Bush Foundation, and lives in West Hartford, Connecticut with her husband and son.