Orpheus in our World

"A most valuable book about the joys and pains of wandering through a world both visible and invisible. Poems full of life and music, so tuned and flexible they can be read straight through as a dizzying world tour of the magic of myth and the wonders of the (post) modern. Patricia Keeney's playful, multi-layered poetry preserves the fire of the original and recasts and diffuses its beauties with full-blown elegance. Her "Orpheus" comes back as a globe-gazer, a time-singer, a human-singer." Savas Patsalidis, Aristotle University "In Orpheus in Our World Patricia Keeney strikes a wonderful balance between ancient and modern voices. In her capable hands, the Orphic hymns sing anew to a contemporary audience. She infuses the hymns with a fresh intensity and relevance, and by adding two 21st century narrators (an unnamed male and female voice who "comment" after each hymn) she creates a dialogue between the old and the new. As a result, she truly does bring Orpheus into our world-no small achievement." Eva Tihanyi, author of Truth and Other Fictions and The Largeness of Rescue "Orpheus is one of Patricia Keeney's breakthrough works. I say 'one' because she's written many books that recharge our senses, kindle our imaginations. But this one goes into lyric ecstatic places and harmonizes these with wit and memorable contemporary aphorisms: going from beautiful sanctuaries of vision to dialogues that pointedly engage vital concerns. It's the Orphic original spirit manifest in the flesh of words. I read it in an earlier version and said 'Wow...' It is the right response now, to this book. It's a magnificent ride on the waves of a poet who's deeply inspired." B.W. Powe, poet, philosopher, storyteller, teacher, essayist