“A Nub of Clay”– Karen Hildebrand (Poetry ’22) Reviews “Reveille” by Liza Hudock (Poetry ’23)
Poetry alum Karen Hildebrand (Poetry ’22) reviews “Reveille” by Liza Hudock (Poetry ’23) and interviews Liza in Lit Stack.
Read an excerpt of the review below.
A Nub of Clay | “Reveille” by Liza Hudock
Wrestling With Grief
The title of Liza Hudock’s debut collection, Reveille, does double work, referencing both the poet’s military service (U.S. Coast Guard) and a more metaphoric wake up call. Centered on family and loss, these poems detail a sense of duty that clings beyond the grave. With a syntax spare and plain spoken as a morning bugle call, Hudock renders grief every which way as she wrestles it to the ground.
The powerful opening poems launch us into the heat of the moment, beginning with “Boy in a Red Waistcoat,” an Ars Poetica that sets out a warning about disappointed innocence: “How it can harden / you into an artifact / or it can be your / nub of clay.”
Read the rest of the review here: A Nub of Clay.
Read Karen’s interview with Liza here: Writing Through Loss and Pain.
