The Moon is Almost Full

Chana Bloch's newest poetry collection, The Moon is Almost Full, focuses frankly and tenderly on the themes of aging and death. Bloch doesn't shy away from the dark places, but she was a trustworthy guide. These remarkable poems remind the reader to take joy where we can find it and relish the everyday.

Bloch's clear and direct voice makes her poems accessible favorites for all readers. Anyone interested in poetry dealing with aging, cancer, family relationships, and Judaism.

"As a whole, Chana Bloch's The Moon Is Almost Full is poetry that ignites the creative impulse in the imaginative reader as Bloch deliberately and willfully salvages beauty from a life confronted by suffering. She teaches joy, humility, and endurance all at once in her original and provocative cries from the heart." Sonja James,The Journal (WV)

"These poems, fashioned with compact power and formal elegance, are a luminous demonstration of how poetry can be the vehicle for both confronting our darkest fears and yet continuing to affirm the preciousness of life. The Moon is Almost Full is the crowning achievement of Chana Bloch’s distinguished career as a poet." Robert Alter, author of The Book of Psalms: A New Translation and Commentary

CHANA BLOCH (1940-2017) was a poet, translator, scholar, and teacher. She was the author of five books of poems, six books of translation from Hebrew poetry, ancient and contemporary, and a critical study of George Herbert. Bloch was professor emerita of English literature and creative writing at Mills College, where she taught for many years and directed the creative writing program. She lived in Berkeley, California.