In Praise of Grace

For the second piece in this tiny National Poetry Month series, I wanted to talk about a new favorite poet. Word order is important there, because I discovered Adam Zagajewski close to the end of his distinguished career. So while he was not a new poet when I found his work, his work was new to me, and I was immediately blown away by it.

(I often see discussion of books and writing that begins with, “sorry for being late to the party on this.” And I get that – there is, culturally, so much emphasis on new, now, next, that even reading something a month after it comes out can feel like being behind. And goodness knows that I start my browsing at the new release tables when I go to the bookstore. But you know what? Literature does not come with an expiration date. We’re all late to the party on Beowulf. Which is good, actually – parties did not go over well in that poem. And the poem itself is still spectacular.)