The Broken String

An award-winning contemporary poet celebrates the joyful, impossible language of music in this collection that “surpasses her distinguished previous work” (Harold Bloom).

One of the finest poets writing today, Grace Schulman finds order in art and nature that enables her to stand fast in a threatened world. The title refers to Itzhak Perlman’s performance of a violin concerto with a snapped string, which inspires a celebration of life despite limitations. For her, song imparts endurance: Thelonious Monk evokes Creation; John Coltrane’s improvisations embody her own heart’s desire to “get it right on the first take”; the wind plays a harp-shaped oak; and her immigrant ancestors remember their past by singing prayers on a ship bound for New York. In the words of Wallace Shawn, “When I read her, she makes me want to live to be four hundred years old, because she makes me feel that there is so much out there, and it’s unbearable to miss any of it.”

“Grace Shulman has developed into one of the permanent poets of her generation.” —Harold Bloom

“[An] extended paean to the triumph of art over adversity or, perhaps, to the birth of beauty in adversity.” —The Seattle Times