Emily Scudder's second collection of poems, Natural Instincts, was just released by Finishing Line Press in October 2008. Her first collection of poems, A Change of Pace, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2007.
Her poems have appeared in Harvard Review, Agni Online, Margie, Xavier Review, Sow's Ear Poetry Review, Mochila Review, Cranky, Swivel: The Nexus of Women & Wit, Mamazine.com and elsewhere. Her poems have been displayed by the 9th floor elevators in Boston City Hall, and included in World of Water, World of Sand (Cape Cod Literary Press).
New work appears in Jabberwock Review, Sea Stories (Blue Ocean Institute), Agni Online, 2River View, Pinyon, Concho River Review Coe Review, and is forthcoming in 2009 in Oak Bend Review. Emily's poem "Fiddler Crab" has been anthologized in Interative English: Grade 8 (CD-ROM, Hodder Education, London, England, 2008).
Reviews
In Emily Scudder's poems, "nature rivets," and so does solitude: a room of her own would be by the sea, perhaps in the sea for closer observation of the marine life filling this chapbook. Here's a fresh humorous voice often plagued by humid domesticities far away from that room, but delighted by the demands made. Throughout Natural Instincts, her wry observing eye is always scanning the horizon for pleasure too. This is a skilled poetic voice honestly assessing and caressing material at the same time.
~ Suzanne E. Berger, teaches at Lesley University, and is the author of Legacies, These Rooms, and Horizontal Woman
"Nature rivets," the poet wryly observes in the poem "Natural Instincts." The poems in this excellent chapbook also rivet, giving us deep glimpses into the life of the mind and body, both wild and domesticated. Emily Scudder's poems are wonderfully crafted, dynamic, reverberant.
~ Susan Carlisle, Lecturer, Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Emily Scudder is not afraid to embolden the domestic and everyday with a childlike eeriness. Yet beneath her peacefully eccentric language, a fierce current rips along: of compassion and heartbreaking tenacity—the stuff of sane, wild love.
~ Frannie Lindsay, author of Lamb and Where She Always Was.
Emily Scudder is a poet to watch. Her poems make you sit up and listen and what you hear are your own thoughts coming back toyou. These fine new poems will surprise you with their erotic beauty, like someone placing a hot hand on your bare back.
~ June Beisch, author of Fatherless Woman and Take Notes.
www.EmilyScudder.com
www.FiddlerCrab.com
