Encircle Publications, 2015
Missing Persons
Winner of Encircle Publications 2015 Chapbook Contest.
“John Surowiecki is one of our bravest and most humane poets. He is a master of of the elegy, and his considerable talents are on display in Missing Persons, a chapbook that echoes with the music of other lives— lively mazurkas and lonely soprano solos alike.” —Shelley Puhak
The missing persons of John Surowiecki will not settle quietly into anonymity. He elevates lost or forgotten souls out of absence and makes their presence felt, starkly and simply through his exact and moving imagery. These poems are taut and elegiac—heartbreaking, but never despairing. By resurrecting memories through these poignant portraits, Surowiecki offers “the company of words,” as he helps us “understand how the earth absorbs” our loss. —Amy Nawrocki