{"title":"Sharon Bryan","description":"Sharon Bryan is the author of four collections of poetry including \u003cem\u003eSharp Stars\u003c\/em\u003e, winner of the Isabella Gardner Award and published by BOA in 2009. Her awards include two NFA Fellowships in Poetry, and  an Artist Trust grant from the Washington State Art Council. She was a poet-in-residence at The Frost Place in Franconia, New Hampshire, and a senior fellow at the Provincetown Artist Colony.","products":[{"product_id":"sharp-stars-poems","title":"Sharp Stars","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award for 2009 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs she's shown throughout her career, Sharon Bryan is a rare breed of contemporary poet.  A practitioner of acrobatic language that probes matters philosophical and psychological, Bryan is also playful and humorous, and this mixture of attributes reveals itself in each of these tightly-knit, succulent poems. Concerned with the interplay of matter and spirit, Bryan's poems in this collection also address, and sometimes blend, issues of biology, astronomy, and music. As she writes in the poem Big Band Theory: “It all began with music,\/ with that much desire to be\/ in motion, waves of longing\/ with Nothing to pass through,\/ the pulsing you feel before\/ you hear it. The darkness couldn't\/ keep still, it began to sway....” The poems in \u003cem\u003eSharp Stars\u003c\/em\u003e represent more than ten years of work. Of her last book, \u003cem\u003eFlying Blind\u003c\/em\u003e, published in 1996, \u003cem\u003eSmall Press\u003c\/em\u003e wrote: “In Sharon Bryan's most effective poems, word play is a matter of life and death... Bryan won't let any ordinary phrase off the hook as she dangles it, circling in brilliant focus.” Indeed, in \u003cem\u003eSharp Stars\u003c\/em\u003e we find her unraveling common phrases or sayings in the all-too-human desire for transcendence, a transcendence Sharon Bryan accomplishes with her own blend of levity and gravitas, always mindful of the complicated, vexing dynamic of body and soul.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sharp wit, infinite energy, delightful word plays, and luminous insights shine in \u003cem\u003eSharp Stars.\u003c\/em\u003e..\" --\u003cem\u003eRattle: Poetry for the 21st Century\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sharon Bryan is a poet who contemplates radical questions and situations.  Her beautiful astonishment vis-a-vis the universe knows no limits.  Her poems dance this amazement.\" --Adam Zagajewski\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBig Band Theory\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt all began with music,\u003cbr\u003ewith that much desire to be\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein motion, waves of longing\u003cbr\u003ewith Nothing to pass through,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe pulsing you feel before\u003cbr\u003eyou hear it.  The darkness couldn’t\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ekeep still, it began to sway,\u003cbr\u003ethen there were little flashes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eof light, glints of brass\u003cbr\u003eover the rumbling percussion, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe reeds began to weep and sing,\u003cbr\u003eand suddenly the horns\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etore bigger holes in the darkness—\u003cbr\u003ewe could finally see\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhere the music was coming from:\u003cbr\u003eordinary men in bowties and black \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ejackets.  But by then we had already\u003cbr\u003edanced most of the night away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e© BOA Editions, Ltd 2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAvailable Editions:\u003cbr\u003e-----------------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003ePaperback$16.00\u003cbr\u003ePublishing Date: 2009\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":null,"offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":8420049221,"sku":"978-1-934414-28-6","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/products\/SharpStars_Bryan.jpg?v=1527683344"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/collections\/bryan.jpg?v=1454351911","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/collections\/sharon-bryan.oembed","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}