Available June 16th, 2006. Full-color, 32 pages, 9" x 5" oblong, perfect-bound.

"My original idea for this book was to write a series of formal poems titled "A Proper Dress," to examine the roles of women throughout history, and to gain a richer understanding of our local (Pennsylvania) heritage. In writing and researching these poems, I deepened my understanding of the region's changing and unchanging mores, which was exciting because it allowed the poems to evolve from form into what I call "collapsed form," where the subject matter of the poem batters the window panes of the form and spills out into the world beyond. For me, this is an accurate description of what it means to be a woman alive in any century - a marriage and sometimes a conflict of order and chaos. In many instances, writing these poems felt like having a conversation with the women I was writing about, and for that I am extremely grateful."

- Jennifer Hill-Kaucher, author

"When I received the writings I went to the historical society and began to research the women for whom the poems were dedicated. I collected found images and text and I constructed collages combining those materials. I gathered personal objects such as a photograph of my great-grandmother and grandmother, illustrations drawn by my mother, photographs of my daughter, a photograph of a view from my kitchen sink, a detail of a painting by my great-great-grandfather from 1900, and a doily from my godmother. I photographed these images using a macro lens and then created collages in the darkroom. I hand-toned the final prints with tea and color washes."

- Elizabeth Parry-Faist, artist

This book project was supported by a Lackawanna County Arts and Cultural Grant, a program of the Lackawanna County Commissioners and the Lackawanna County Council on the Arts.

Please support the poet and artist by ordering directly.

$12.00 (includes shipping)

Attend an upcoming reading to buy your copy. Jennifer (and Elizabeth) will be happy to sign it for you!