Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
vanitas: A still-life painting of a 17th-century Dutch genre incorporating symbols of mortality or mutability. —The Shorter Oxford English DictionaryJane McKinley weaves together memories, myths, and interior worlds to create a vanitas of her own. With an oboist's mastery of rhythm and form and a painterly eye for detail, the poet retraces scenes from her childhood, allowing us to witness its shattering conclusion: the death of a beloved sister and its silent aftershocks.
About the Author
Jane McKinley is a professional oboist and artistic director of the Dryden Ensemble, a Baroque chamber music group based in Princeton, New Jersey. Her poems have appeared in the Georgia Review, the Southern Poetry Review, and on Poetry Daily. Her sonnet “Mud Season” won the 2008 Patricia Dobler Award from Carlow University. She lives in Hopewell, New Jersey.