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The Human Spirit Journeys Toward Understanding
Anaïs Nin wrote, “We write to taste life twice,” and in Go Where The Landshed Takes You, Jane Glazer does just that by recording the flavors and textures of experience that are most memorable, both personally and universally. The path each of us takes through life is unique, full of stories we long to preserve, to remember, and to share with others. Go Where The Landshed Takes You is Glazer’s poetic way of forever preserving her heightened moments, her keen perceptions. They are intensely humane.
Though we share common events and memories, we walk across different landscapes, and often view these things differently. Jane Glazer writes about perspective in this new collection of poetry—the new perspectives of people who fascinate her with their various lives, their desires and hungers. She also honors the vision of those who’ve surprised her with their discoveries, who’ve enlarged the depth of her awareness.
Glazer deals with grief in Go Where The Landshed Takes You, her own and what she gleans from the world around. She eulogizes the martyrs for whom she feels deeply, as she bravely faces her own grief and loss. But she also celebrates joy in the natural world and the rich kaleidoscope of people, places, and cultures where travel has taken her.
Go Where The Landshed Takes You also makes clear Jane Glazer’s belief that art is a political act, that pointing out the injustices we witness throws sharp light on the human condition, and that art of any kind is kin to art of all kinds. Many of her poems are inspired by paintings, architectural ruins, and music. Go Where The Landshed Takes You is, as the title suggests, a sentient writer’s journey with eyes wide open.
Jane Glazer was born in Iowa and has lived in Oregon since she was twelve. She taught English and Humanities in Eugene and Portland for over twenty years. She now spends most of her time writing and has published her poems in several literary magazines including Americas Review, Antioch Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, Calapoova, Calyx, Fireweed, Five Fingers Review, Hubbub, Mid-American Review, Plainswoman, and Sojourner. In 1990 she was awarded First Prize in the William Stafford Award from the Washington State Poets Association. And, in 1994, her first collection of poems, Some Trick of Light, was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards.
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