Displacement

Leslie Harrison’s debut collection marks the arrival of an assured new poetic voice. Chosen as the winner of the 2008 Bakeless Prize in poetry by guest judge Eavan Boland, Displacement addresses questions of place and, of course, displacement — from marriage and home — and explores the aftershocks of being uprooted physically and emotionally. Paired with Harrison’s natural, keen sense of rhythm, the central themes of impermanence and loss are heightened by the poems’ impeccable structure.

In a masterful display of formal precision, the collection is filled with "engaging contradictions," says Eavan Boland. In her introduction, Boland writes, "There is a poignancy, poise, and a presence about this book and about its traffic between secrecy and disclosure that allows it to have an unusual force, and a true grip on its reader. This is a real lyric journey; and the reader will take it, too."