Reviews

Fabulae by Joy Katz

jenkinm's review

5.0

As the title suggests, stories are a central theme in this collection. Katz is especially skilled at taking a fresh approach to historical places, figures, and events. One especially memorable poem, "A Nation So Ignorant of Itself" deals with John Wesley Powell exploring the Grand Canyon, the experience itself and afterwards how terrible it must be to discuss what he has seen with others, that they can never see or understand. Other poems are incredibly location based, like "In the Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague" which focuses on a crowded cemetery where tombstones are placed on top of each other and look "like molars in a small jaw."

sloatsj's review

3.0

I read Joy Katz's poem "Just a Second Ago" in a volume of Best American Poetry a year or so ago and it became one of my favorites. I'd have to dig it out to say precisely why but as I remember it was simply a moment of weird revelation, eerily familiar.
I'd hoped to read more of that in "Fabulae" but have to say I was disappointed. The poems are quite good, sure, but I didn't connect.
One of the best was the short poem "Abraham Considers," about Abraham about to sacrifice Issac.