BOOK

It's difficult to believe that Neil Aitken's The Lost Country of Sight is a first book, since there is mastery throughout the collection. His ear is finely tuned, and his capacity for lyricism seems almost boundless. What stands out everywhere in the poems is his imagery, which is not only visually precise but is also possessed of a pure depth. The poems never veer off into the sensational; they are built from pensiveness and quietude and an affection for the world. “Traveling Through the Prairies, I Think of My Father's Voice” strikes me as a perfectly made poem, but poems of similar grace and power are to be found throughout the book. This is a debut to celebrate.

—C.G. Hanzlicek,
2007 Philip Levine Prize Final Judge


SAMPLE POEMS

  

The Lost Country of Sight
Anhinga Press 2008
2007 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry
ISBN 978-1-934695-06-7
Cover design by Lynne Knight

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ADVANCED PRAISE

The voice in these poems is that of a sighted, awake heart discovering its home in language and its homelessness in the world. Steeped in longing, the imagination here is concrete, vivid, sensuous, and ultimately erotic, even as it perceives that meaning and beauty are evanescent. This book is a full helping from the world's infinite fund of tears.

—Li-Young Lee

Fueled by motion and emotion, Neil Aitken’s The Lost Country of Sight is literally and figuratively a moving collection. His winding roads and "ghost cars" move us over the landscapes of identity and personal history with stirring meditative grace. "There is a song at the beginning of every journey" Aitken tells us in one poem even as he says in another, “these are journeys we never take.” This poet is our both our wise, wide-eyed tour guide and our dazed, day-dreaming companion in The Lost Country of Sight. This is a rich, mature debut.

—Terrance Hayes

REVIEWS

Neil Aitken's The Lost Country of Sight may be a first collection, but it is a collection of very seasoned writing. Aitken's notion of poetic possibilities and his level of accomplishment are both very, very high... (read the rest of the review)

—Scott Hightower, Ekleksographia, Wave 2, Issue 4

For Aitken, hope is found in language: "A cradle of words, candle, camera, / and pen." Throughout the book, letters are a form of communication, connection, solace. If "the pen has claimed /his tongue, rendered him speechless," one still has "the heart-ticking balm of silence." That people are "haunted by words" imbues the book with rich longing and wonder. (read the rest of the review)

—Crystal Hurdle, Canadian Literature

Landscape, family and language come together beautifully in The Lost Country of Sight. Aitken uses his father’s death as an occasion to explore issues of heritage and memory, all in beautiful, precise language. In the process, he explores the places tied to his heritage—the lushness of Taiwan, and the barren Canadian Plains—bringing them vividly to life. (read the rest of the review)

—G. Murray Thomas, Poetix

INTERVIEWS