Judith Kitchen – författare

Brief Encounters expands the vibrant field of shorts—as these sharply focused pieces have come to be known—with nearly eighty new selections: representing an impressive range of voices, perspectives, sensibilities and forms. From the rant to the rave, the meditation to the polemic, the confession to the valediction, this collection will enlarge your world.

What Persists contains eighteen of the nearly fifty essays on poetry that Judith Kitchen published in The Georgia Review over a twenty-five-year span. Coming at the genre from every possible angle, this celebrated critic discusses work by older and younger poets, most American but some foreign, and many of whom were not yet part of the contemporary canon. Her essays reveal a cultural history from the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, through 9/11 and the Iraq War, and move into today’s political climate. They chronicle personal interests while they also make note of what was happening in contemporary poetry by revealing overall changes of taste, both in content and in the use of craft. Over time, they fashion a comprehensive overview of the contemporary literary scene.At its best, What Persists shows what a wide range of poetry is being written—by women, men, poets who celebrate their ethnicity, poets who show a fierce individualism, poets whose careers have soared, promising poets whose work has all but disappeared.

A treasure trove of lost family photos illuminates a singular perspective on family, memory, and history in this hypnotically enjoyable memoir. When Judith Kitchen came across boxes of family photos in her mother’s closet, the discovery sparked curiosity and speculation. “Over a ten-year period, Kitchen worked on Half in Shade, trying to come to terms with an inherited collection of family memorabilia that enlightened as much as it confused. . . . Most compelling is her attempt to find out the things she does not know but suspects about her mother, including an unexpected romance” (BookSlut). Piecing together her memories with the physical evidence in the photos, Kitchen explores the gray areas between the present and the past, family and self, certainty and uncertainty. The result is “part memoir, part speculation, part essay” (Stuart Dybek). Half in Shade is a lyrical, ennobling anatomy of a heritage and a family; of mother-daughter relationships, and recovery from illness. It is a voyage of memory that captures with precision the forces of the heart and mind when “none of us knows what lies beyond the moment, outside the frame.” “Kitchen’s book lets you know what a keen eye coupled with an alert and sensitive intelligence can see.” —Publishers Weekly “Kitchen’s collaboration with the past serves as a reminder that we of the twenty-first century are neither the first nor the last to know heartbreak. Rather, we are simply one more snapshot in the collage of humanity—half-blurry proof that none of us are ever truly forgotten.” —LA Review “Behind the beautiful language Kitchen employs and the poignant moments she unearths, it’s the theme of life’s instability that resonates most.” —Brooklyn Rail “Half in Shade is well worth the read. Together with the photographs, it offers an entertaining, quirky, and sometimes profound trip down memory lane—even if the lane is not your own.” —TriQuarterly Review “Half in Shade: Family, Photography, and Fate, takes an intensive look at the intent behind 20th-century photography in general, with specific reflections on what any photo can tell us. . . . It can leave even the least nostalgic of readers wishing they had paid more attention.” —The Quivering Pen