Ronnie Hess on Marilyn L. Taylor's newest poetry collection Outside the Frame: New and Selected Poems:
When people think of formalist poets in Wisconsin, Marilyn Taylor immediately comes to mind. The former Wisconsin poet laureate (2009-2010), Milwaukee poet laureate (2004-5) and, longtime UW-Milwaukee Adjunct Professor for the Honors College, is the author of eight collections of poetry, many of them partial to verse, meter, and rhyme. Don’t let that discourage you, or even fool you into thinking the poems are humorous or lightweight, stuffy or inaccessible. They’re anything but. These are expertly crafted poems that show you how it’s done, so well in fact that you can miss the formalism in a live reading. What you surely take from Taylor’s poems are alternately keen, spirited, or touching observations on the world we live in and through, poems that guide us as we move forward. Her most recent book, Outside the Frame (Kelsay Books, 2021), is a joy to read, several times over. Buy this book!
To learn more about Outside the Frame: New and Selected Poems visit mltpoet.org
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