Syn犘thesium ─ Poems

Synæsthesium is an unusual exploration of ekphrasis—poetry that takes a real or imagined work of art as its muse. The first half of the book, Olfactorium, is inspired by various fragrances and the olfactory flashbacks—real or imagined—induced by them. From everyday Old Spice to exotic Casbah, the poems take the reader on journeys peppered with the luscious language of perfumery. The second part, Love and Work, is based on the works of Suzanne Valadon, the bold and unconventional model-turned-artist, peer and probable lover of Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, and other painters. The poetic forms—sonnets, syllabics, a villanelle, a rondeau—reflect the content of the paintings and drawings of this great and under-appreciated artist.

Moira Egan’s previous books are Botanica Arcana/Strange Botany (Italic Pequod, 2014); Hot Flash Sonnets (Passager Books, 2013); Spin (Entasis Press, 2010); La Seta della Cravatta/The Silk of the Tie (Edizioni l’Obliquo, 2009); Bar Napkin Sonnets (winner of The Ledge 2008 Poetry Chapbook Competition); and Cleave (WWPH, 2004). Her work has appeared in The Best American Poetry 2008; The Book of Forms; The Book of Scented Things; and Measure for Measure. With her husband, Damiano Abeni, she has published more than a dozen volumes in translation in Italy, by authors such as Ashbery, Barth, Bender, Ferlinghetti, Hecht, Simic, Strand, Charles Wright, and others. She lives in Rome.