Manoleria (Tupelo Press/Crazyhorse Book Award)

Poetry. Winner of the Tupelo Press/Crazyhorse First Book Prize. Under the influence of broadcasts such as National Public Radio's "Marketplace" (a daily roundup of stock reports and business news), Daniel Khalastchi composed a series of character-driven poems whose recurrent narrator is physically and mentally manipulated while the world around him takes little notice. Through their chaos and horror, these poems ask a reader to question the ways in which our careening healthcare system, crumbling financial/housing/job markets, and war on multiple fronts are actually affecting us—both inside and out. "In MANOLERIA, the body, broken apart 'in elegant stress,' re-congregates. Formally, the poet is taking us through the emotional work of picking up pieces. Despite the splintering, despite the hemorrhage, somehow 'all is accounted for.' A cardinal debut..."—D. A. Powell.