Weaving a New Eden

the long version

> The authority of the voice in Sherry > Chandler’s poems arrives firmly from > the skilled and powerful imagination > behind the work. *Weaving a New Eden* > is personal, historical, political, > inspired—a thoroughly satisfying work > of art. This is a moving and original > book wrought from a mature and subtle > vision. — Maurice Manning > More than a work of history in verse, > *Weaving a New Eden* represents poet > Sherry Chandler’s confrontation with > mortality, invisibility, loss and > change. Few poets can move, dazzle, > and enlighten us in a single book, but > Sherry Chandler can – and does – in > this volume of poems. From the deft > personal lyrics that open *Weaving a > New Eden*, through acrostic poems and > blank verse histories to the stunning > and graceful sonnet crown that closes > the volume, Sherry Chandler bears her > readers into the past and back out > again with a sure hand. In poems both > scholarly and witty, Chandler lifts > Rebecca Boone out of the shadows of > history to sturdy, quirky reality and > gives us glimpses of the other > invisible women whose lives make up > the hidden half of history. In *Weaving > a New Eden* Sherry Chandler proves > herself a gifted poet at ease in a > range of forms and subjects. Her work > deserves a wide readership. — Leatha Kendrick