Angela O'Donnell's Moving Words

Angela Alaimo O'Donnell's book of poetry, Moving House, is moving critics. Peggy Rosenthal, writing in The Christian Century, says, "I know of no other poet so immersed in human mortality yet without the least morbidity. The boundary between mortal and eternal life is porous for this poet, and it is at this boundary where her poetic imagination is comfortably placed."

"Moving House is a deeply affecting book. It balances hard truths with a sweetness of spirit that is, if not singular, rare in our time, especially in contemporary poetry," according to America magazine.

Rattle says, "Moving House ranges through a heady mix of topics against an autobiographical backdrop, the bleak days of O’Donnell’s childhood through the quiet chronology of a move in her maturity."

Finally, Barbara Crooker, writing for The Pedestal, says, "O’Donnell’s poems echo with the delights of well-employed language. She has taken up her pick, put on her miner’s helmet, and descended into the shaft of the past, finding these gems of poems and bringing them to the light. Let’s hope that more books quickly follow this ambitious debut."

O'Donnell, who says, "I've been ridiculously lucky in getting reviews as books of poems often go completely unnoticed," is the associate director of the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies, and serves on both the English and American Catholic Studies Faculty.