Carol Krause’s debut poetry collection is forthcoming with Guernica Editions. She is seeking a publisher for her genre-bending poetry collection, Tending the Wasteland.
Tending the Wasteland:
Tending the Wasteland is a story of madness. More than that, it is a story of being human. It narrates a plunge back into an inner underworld of terror and confusion, through raw, unrelenting poetry and vivid mythical imagery. The poet’s outer range of experience narrowed, and she was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. At this point, she could no longer work or do many things she used to be able to do. Even as her inner world grew very large. But this is not a book about becoming bigger or smaller. This is a book about learning to live beyond size. It tells the story of going from law school graduate to disability support recipient not as a decline, but as a deepening, narrating a form of aliveness that eludes limited notions of sanity or competency. While it is at once a book of grief, it is also a radical love story about finding beauty in the depths of the overlooked.
This collection speaks to some of the challenges people have faced during the pandemic, including experiencing a sense of danger when in public places, a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty, the inability to work, and the need to rely on social assistance. Written before the plague, Tending the Wasteland retells a story that has not happened yet, through the voice of someone who has forgotten what she should say.
Tending the Wasteland began with an invitation, or was it a dare? I heard a silent voice deep within the shadows tell me that I needed to – yes, needed to – write this book. I wasn’t grateful at first, though I did listen intently. And the invitation grew louder, incessant. I had no idea what it would ask of me, this descent into the underworld. But I am thankful for the many hidden beings who have darted in front of me, sat beside me, and whistled in my ear. Even the frightening ones. I hope to one day bring this book to you, my hands trembling, and invite you to sit beside me for a little while. I will brew us some cinnamon tea, and though it may be terrifying at times, I couldn’t do this without you…
Carol Krause 