In Angela Hoffman's exquisite collection, Resurrection Lily, she explores the fragile, vulnerable nature of human existence. She reminds us that we are not alone on our journey to connect, to feel loved and accepted. In some cases, it is simply about feeling seen, as Hoffman writes, "Someone looks me in the eye. / I realize I am not sitting alone." How fortunate we are that Hoffman is so in touch with the world, "I am a seismograph, sensitive to every subtle shift in mood." This is the true strength and beauty of her writing. With these extraordinary poems, Hoffman offers us comfort and a poetic road map, "on the porch with family, no words necessary / we find solace. Non-pretentious, we are enough."
-Cristina M. R. Norcross, editor of Blue Heron Review, author of The Sound of a Collective Pulse and other titles
If Angela Hoffman's poems don't move you, you are a hardened person! Vulnerability, fragility, aloneness, longing, the occasional glimpse of the holy: Angela Hoffman masterfully evokes these all-to-familiar emotions in poems about a tomato, an exit sign off a highway, a child's game, flying geese, or asparagus. Hoffman has a knack for taking everyday objects and turning them into revelations about the divine, about humanness, about love and belonging and the lack of belonging. Her images are crisp, clear, and creative, and her word choice is often unexpected and thought-provoking.
Hoffman's first book of poems is so good that all I want is more.
-Ann Heyse, author of Drink In, Sweet Rain
Resurrection Lily by Angela Hoffman thrums with quiet intensity. On the surface, these are poems "For the Homebodies," "by a crackling fire with a book / in a room with paints and
journals / in the garden picking strawberries," but within, these poems are bursting with passion
and hunger, wisdom and questions of faith. These poems, like the "Resurrection Lily," brim with
"Second chances, rising from the dead, a rebirth, all possibilities." I am so privileged to have
read this collection and hope you will partake of it as well.
-Shaindel Beers, author of Secure Your Own Mask, finalist for the Oregon Book Award
