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Book Title

The Natural Order of Things

Subtitle
Poems
Author 1
Donika Kelly
Poem Excerpt
Observe the baby hippo,
early born in hay over concrete,
stumbling and new in its enclosure:
 
Taut skin and fat and awkward steps—
it stumbles under a fluorescent sun
and nearly into the white walls.
 
Hippo baby, little river horse,
you should be in a river.

O Donika, you should be in love.
 
—from “A Poem to Remind Myself of the Natural Order of Things”
Body
What does a life look like on the other side of survival, and can the one who survived come to recognize that she did?
 
Donika Kelly’s poetry is known for its resonant, unflinching confrontations with trauma and inheritance, translated through myth and nature. The Natural Order of Things expands these explorations into a new realm: one defined by joy and connection. It is an ode to companionship with people, animals, and our planet, and reveals the reparative power of intimacy. In poems inventive, playful, and formally nimble, Kelly pays homage to the voices and people she comes from, the songs of her lineage. Other poems follow the early stirrings of love to erotic transcendence with the lover and the self. Throughout, Kelly finds mirror and marvel in nature, art, and precious friendships. Though it once seemed impossible, she realizes a surprising place for herself, a rightness in the larger world.
 
The Natural Order of Things is a brilliant and moving book, one that reaches toward equilibrium and something like happiness.

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List Price
$17.00
ISBN
ISBN
978-1-64445-359-9
Format
Format
Paperback
Publication Date
Publication Date
Subject
Subject
Pages
Pages
88
Trim Size
Trim Size
6 x 9
Keynote
An extraordinary and unexpected book of finding happiness, by the award-winning author of The Renunciations

About the Author

Donika  Kelly
Credit: Ladan Osman
Donika Kelly is the author of Bestiary, winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and The Renunciations, winner of the Anisfield Wolf Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

http://donikakelly.com/
More by author

Upcoming Events

Donika Kelly reading and in conversation about THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS as part of the Iowa City Book Festival at the Iowa City Public Library

Date:
Location:
Iowa City Book Festival in Iowa City, IAview map
Location: Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn Street, Iowa City. This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more details

Donika Kelly (THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS) reading and in conversation with Melissa Febos at Storyhouse Bookpub

Date:
Location:
Storyhouse Bookpub in Des Moines, IAview map

Donika Kelly reading and in conversation with Jericho Brown about THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS at Charis Books, introduced by Samuel Ace

Date:
Location:
Charis Books in Decatur, GAview map
This event is free and open to the public, and will be live streamed via Crowdcast. Registration is required to view the livestream. Click here for more details and to register

Donika Kelly reading and in conversation about THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS at Skylight Books

Date:
Location:
Skylight Books in Los Angeles, CAview map
This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more details

Donika Kelly (THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS) reading and in conversation with Melissa Febos at NYU's Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House

Date:
Location:
Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House in New York, NYview map
This event is free and open to the public but all attendees are required to RSVP. Click here for more details and to RSVP. Book sales hosted by McNally Jackson. 

Praise

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