Earthly Conditions

The first representative selection of acclaimed Turkish poet Birhan Keskin's work to be published in the US, Earthly Conditions explores the loss and longing of the human condition in the context of its separation from the non-human world. Keskin's ability to shift voices between seemingly distinct subjectivities creates a rich texture and an ambiguity that sits at the heart of her poetry. This poetry is often autobiographical, but the 'I' of these poems is merged with non-human voices-stones, penguins, oceans, trees, glaciers, among others-in a way that might be termed organic. Each poem in the book opens the door to introspection in an aching search for wholeness. Although Keskin has been a major voice in the Turkish literary scene since the 1980s, she does not publish often because, as she puts it, 'writing too many poems is a betrayal of both words and trees.'