Riddle Field: Poems (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781948908764)

Winner of the 2019 Interim Test Site Poetry Series Prize

"Dew is an exciting and complex new voice in contemporary poetry." --Publisher's Weekly

The beautifully crafted poems in Riddle Field explore two parallel themes, the impact of the impending destruction of a dam on a small town and the trauma of sexual abuse and eventual recovery from it. This work focuses on the environment, human and physical, in which the loss of nature and innocence is born and calls attention to the many ways we create both intimacy and distance when trauma is hidden or denied. Derek Thomas Dew's language is harsh, honest, and sometimes heartbreaking. His poems capture the confusion and fatigue that must be navigated for a victim of abuse to piece himself back together and the internal strife that comes with carry-ing a traumatic secret that can no longer be ignored.

Rich with unforgettable images and the quiet strength of hard-won survival, Riddle Field tackles the complex process of achieving self-awareness and recovery in the wake of profound trauma.


Author: Derek Thomas Dew
ISBN-10: 194890876X
ISBN-13: 9781948908764
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
Language: English
Published: 10/06/2020
Pages: 64
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/19/2020