TOWN CRIER, winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize from Persea Books, is now available for here.
NEWS: Town Crier is named a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award!
The poems in Town Crier wryly express the pervasive nature of loss, how it suffuses all aspects of life: memories, hopes, love, sex, lunch. The death of the author’s dear friend, the poet Max Ritvo, becomes the cornerstone of the book, a foundational pain along on which the poems are built. Sarah Matthes is equal parts jester and conjuror, sensing the precious alchemy of laughter and lament, crying out to those who have left hew and those who remain.
“Filled with reminders of human fragility, but still exalting life in vigorous tones, Sarah Matthes’s debut poetry collection, Town Crier, is a momentous introduction to a sensitive voice.” — Michelle Anne Schingler, Foreward Reviews
“This is mindful and painful, and also beautiful, poetry. Sarah Matthes breaks my heart with her candor about life, death, sex, and God.” — Jane Miller
“The poems in Sarah Matthes’ astonishing debut make me feel more alive. Also smarter, funnier, sadder, more generous, and far more nimble.” —Lisa Olstein